Dark Waters

Chapter One: Lost in Dark Waters

Chapter One: Lost in Dark Waters

The past.

Ten years ago...

The old man looked down upon the young child before him with grim silence, his face a mask of utter disappointment. Never in his life had he ever felt as he did now, his heart filled with sorrow and anger towards someone that he cared for. Or more rather, the three remaining grandsons that now stood in front of him.

Neither one was daring to meet his gaze at the moment. Every now and then, two of them would shoot a terrified glance at the one wearing red but then it was back to staring at the floor and each other. For Yoshi Mizu, who watched their exchanges, he could not stop the creeping feeling that something terrible had happened.

It was the yelling that first alerted the old man to the problem. He had been in his study reading when he heard the voice of his grandson, Rainier who immediately barged into his room and began yelling for help and that something bad happened to Leonardo.

In a heartbeat, he had forgotten about his book and was on his feet racing for the door, telling the child to take him to his brother. Reaching there only took him a few seconds but in that brief span of time, it was already too late.

He saw his other two grandsons, Daniel and Michael standing by the edge of catwalk just above the gigantic swirling whirlpool that made up the sewer drain and hugging each other, both of them dripping wet and shivering with a mixture of cold and fear.

Upon seeing him arrive, Michael immediately broke free from his brother's hold and ran towards him sobbing.

This made the old man a bit uneasy as he turned to face Daniel who now stared in fear at Rainier who stood just a few steps behind him.

“Daniel,” He slowly began, dreading the answer. “Where is Leonardo? Where is your brother?”

***

The past.

Fifteen minutes ago...

“Raini, I don't think that we should be here...”

“Oh shut up, Fearless Leader. I had enough of your whining.”

Strangely, the journey to the old abandoned water plant was not as rowdy as one might have expected. From the way that they had tried to go at one another and their actions before leaving home, anyone would have thought that Leo and Rain would be arguing the entire way. If anything, this was the farthest thing from the truth.

Their journey had been one angry bickering as they ran towards the old water plant of their destination. Rain had been pissed off at his older brother's bossy attitude and demanded that he fight Leo in a secret place to settle it. Leo had agreed after some thought, wishing he could placate his younger sibling somewhat. The journey itself took some time however, as they had to recall their path from a memory that was somewhat clouded from years of disuse. After all, they had only gone to the Junction when they were six and that had been four years before.

That one time had only happened because Yoshi Mizu had been taking them through a trip around the city. When they had heard the roaring water from the different pipes leading from all over the city as it gathered into the river, the boys had grown curious. They had asked Yoshi Mizu what it was and if it was dangerous, because the noise of it reminded more than one of them what they thought a monster sounded like.

Only as a lesson to show his grandsons that it was not a monster but still a dangerous place nonetheless, Yoshi Mizu took his grandchildren to see the cause of the noise. From a lower tunnel that was well away from waters, he led them to what had been an old abandoned water plant in the city. It was a place shrouded in gloom and filled with shadows that spread over water and land alike.