A Dark Destiny

Chapter 12

The sound of crickets chirping in the bushes irritated him. At this late hour, they were active and the noise irritated him that his teeth clenched. If he wanted to, he would burn the wilderness with a snap of his fingers. But that would mean killing animals or people living around here that didn't do him any harm, or better yet, irritated him. He should be after the little critters, specifically.

The thought of him killing crickets made him smile. Amusing as it may be, he wasn't here for them. He was after something far more valuable.

He stood in front of a grey stoned house, looking at it. The place was dark. There were no lights outside nor inside the house.

He looked at the house more closely and he realised how plain it looked, even in the moonlight. He hated being in such remote areas. To him, it felt quiet and boring. But at the moment, he felt his night was just about to get interesting as he approached the front door, slowly climbing up the short stone stairs.

He could feel the energy radiating from the door the moment he got too close. There was a barrier. An invisible barrier only meant to ward off any magical creature capable of doing real harm. He's one of them, and he knew it. Diana's smart, he thought to himself. She had to be up to something for her to put it up.

Or was it that something was after her?

As much as he could feel it, the barrier's force wasn't strong enough. He stretched out his hand to touch the door. The barrier sharply pierced his fingertips, but it didn't have much of an effect as it should. It wasn't going to last long.

He stepped away from the door, backing himself down the stone steps. He decided to circle round the house to see if there was any other point of entry.

He took a turn down the west side of the house, it's shadow cast onto the ground by the moon. The crickets continued about their business in the lonely night. He approached a wooden window and felt the barrier instantly. He passed it and found his way to another window. There was also a barrier. Diana knew her stuff and he was impressed. He still couldn't help but wonder why she put it up. And also, where did she acquire the magical elements for it? She couldn't create one of her own unlike other beings like him. He would know.

He found himself at the back of the house and this time around, he noticed light coming in from one of the windows. Bingo! He noticed shadows cast upon the walls inside, moving here and there through the window.

There were no curtains and no one was within sight of the window. No one would notice he was there if they ever tried to look out because he was at the moment, invisible. He noticed the back door but he dared not try to approach for he knew that Diana had placed a barrier there too.

He slowed down his breathing and tried his best to ignore the noise of the crickets so as to hear inside the house. He couldn't hear clearly, but he made out two distinct female voices. One of them was Diana's and he recognised it immediately. It excited him to hear her voice again, though it hadn't been too long ago since they last met, it somehow felt like an eternity.

He heard a male's voice too. He wondered who it could be, but that wasn't important.

Minutes later, a bright purple light came into view inside the house and through the window. For a moment, he was puzzled. What was going on in there, he thought. He wanted to peep through the window but then he realised it wasn't worth getting an irritating sting in the eyes.

The light inside the house grew even brighter that it almost blinded him. He raised up his arm to shield his eyes when he heard a high screeching noise behind him.

He turned around and he was lucky to get a glimpse of what had been standing behind him before it took a quick turn round the corner and out of sight. It was a dark shadow and it must have run away from the blinding light. He became more curious now. He had seen many shadow monsters in his lifetime and many of them varied from their size and power. This one was no ordinary shadow monster. It was dangerous, even to it's own kind. And much stronger. But what was it doing here?

Then he realised that the shadow is here for Diana, and that's why she had put up a barrier.

He turned back to look at the window, the purple light still shining bright. Soon, the bright light dimmed out and for a moment, the place grew quiet that even the crickets hushed up for a minute.

He heard voices again, but this time, he heard another female voice. Where did she come from?

He took a few steps towards the door, careful enough not to get too close. He heard their voices more clearly now. He stood a few feet away from the door when he heard the other woman's voice.

"What do you mean there's some shadow outside the house?"

"Just like you've heard," came Diana's voice. "We need your help."

"Oh.., oh.., oh.., my," came the other lady's voice. She sounded shocked. "You..., you..., oh my gosh."

"What's wrong with her?" the third lady asked.

"She's just shocked that someone just popped up in their living room," said Diana.

Popped up in their living room? He couldn't help but wonder what Diana meant. Did she just summon someone into the house using magic? That explained the bright light that he just saw.

"Is it okay for her to be here?" the third woman asked.

"Yes, I trust her," said Diana. There came loud snapping sounds. Diana was snapping her fingers. "Pull yourself together, Katy."

"And what about him? Who is he?"

"He's an old friend of mine who tried to kill me."

"Huh?" The man listening in on the conversation was also surprised. "If he tried to kill you, why is he here?"

"Mercy is what I call it," Diana answered with a hint of amusement in her voice. "You know I don't kill people, Stella."

Stella? Who is this Stella? He had heard of the name before, but where?

"Well, you should be grateful, mister," said Stella. "If I were her, I would have drove my knife into you without a second thought."

The young man scoffed. "No doubt about that," he said. "I am grateful for her saving my life. If she wanted, she would have left me in the forest in the hands of that shadow."

"We need to get out of here, Stella," said Diana. "It's why I summoned you here."

Diana did summon someone, he thought. But how did she know how to do that? It didn't matter. He had to get inside the house in one way or another. But how?

"Okay, I'll help you," came Stella. "Where are we, anyway?"

"We're at my grandmother's house," Diana answered. "I came here for the holidays. And this here is my cousin, Katy."

"Hi, it's so nice to meet you," said Katy with do much awe in her voice.

"Nice to meet you too, though it's under weird circumstances," said Stella.

"I need to ask for another favour from you," said Diana. "Though am afraid that you might not like it."

"This better be good," said Stella, sounding unamused.

He heard footsteps and he could tell they were leaving the room they were in as they grew fainter and fainter. He figured it was Diana and Stella, because he heard the girl, Katy, and the man who tried to kill Diana, talk to each other.

"What do you think Diana is up to?" Katy asked.

"I don't know," the young man answered. "But whatever it is, I hope it will be good enough for us to get out of here."

The man outside the house, figured as much. He had to stop Diana from leaving and he couldn't wait for the barrier to finally give in. It might take time and that will be enough for Diana to escape. He had to do something. Sadly, he couldn't tell what she was up to since she separated herself from the others with Stella.

When he looked out into the dark bushes behind him, he realised that the crickets were at it again with their chirping. And that just gave him an idea to stall Diana a little longer.