When Darkness Falls

Chapter 1

Most mornings, I had nothing but the shrill calls of the Darkness to pull me from my sleep. I would awake, somewhat groggily, with a ruffled look to the clothes I had kept on to rest in for the three short hours I may or may not have been able to obtain. Some nights, this would be all to my brief wake up call; other days,  wasn't so lucky.

Today was one of those days.

When strangled cries once again woke me from my already troubled sleep, the few seconds that it took me to run my fingers through the knots of auburn hair which grew from my scalp gave me just enough time to comprehend that the tone was not quite harsh enough to be the same as what I usually heard.

Straining my eyes to look at the lump under the blanket on the other side of the cramped room, I swung my legs to my right, letting my feet lay flat onto the cold tiled floor. I then averted my gaze to the end of the flimsy mattress, using my feet to slide the pair of worn pumps which lay there across to me.

From with in the dark, I heard a small hiccup.

"Is it time to wake?"

Looking up as I slipped on the shoes, I caught sight of a disgruntled figure, their palms pressed into the dips where their eyes were. The persons hair was an unkempt mane around their head, and they moved their hands to squint across to me with a small scowl.

"No, Tate," A flicker of a smile crossed my lips, as I took in his sleepy appearance. Whenever I woke him on my morning runs, he bore me with the same childlike expression - almost innocent. Almost. "No, you have another few hours."

The boy grunted in what could possibly pass as an 'okay', before stretching out his lean body, bare chest shivering with the motion, and letting his head drop down to the pillow. He was snoring quietly merely a few moments later.

From above me on a nail hook, I pulled down a thick cape, which landed in a heap on my makeshift crib. I then pulled the dark material over my shoulders, letting the heavy hood droop down over my eyes. Taking one last look across the darkened room, I stood up and made my way over to the panelled door, lifting the latch so that I could slip quietly through the narrow gap and leave the sleeping boy for what remained of the night.

In the confined space I hadn't noticed it, but as I drifted down the narrow set of alleys, the bitter air hit my skin, causing my cheeks to tingle slightly. From between the stone walls, my body carried me forward in the familiar left, right, right, right pattern that had become something of a habit to me, until the deadened glow of an old gas street lamp begun to illuminate the uneven cobbles of the slum paths.

As I drew closer to the wailing which had woken me, the tone became more distinguishable.

"Please?" The voice called, its urgency obvious. "Someone, help!" From the high pitch, and frequent breaks in speech, I came to the obvious assumption that whoever was speaking, was female. Unable to locate the source from within the shadows concealed between the walls of the slums, my hands grasped the damp walls, giving me the ability of looking behind the corner and across the partially lightened street.

After a few moments of scanning the road, I saw her. 

She was hunched against the outer wall of the city, a dusty red cape pulled across her frame; it was big enough for her to disappear within. Although she no longer spoke, sobs shook her body, and were only partially stifled by the hand she had clasped over her mouth.

With the amount of noise that she was making, it surprised me that they hadn't found her yet.

Looking out across the darkened sky, however, I felt my heart drop.

Flashes of gold and red flickered across the blackened horizon, causing me to leave my hiding spot, thick cape billowing behind me as I briskly walked towards the hunched figure.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Keeping my voice low, I crouched besides the woman, only now being able to see her expression clearly. A few strands of mousy hair hung limply down the side of her face, which was pale and gaunt, probably due to malnutrition. They almost always arrived starving. Her eyes were only shadows in their sockets, making her appear much older than I had initially thought.

She looked up at me, cowering.

"We have to get you further within the walls, please," I held a hand out for her, knowing that no matter what, she would take it. They always did. After a few moments hesitation, her deathly cold, bony hand slipped between mine, allowing me to grasp it to pull her to her feet.

In the distance I could here laughter, and a sly chatter.

"Who are you?" She whimpered, as I pulled her across the space of flattened stone, her grey eyes looking straight into mine in confusion.

I shrugged lightly. "I work in alliance with the King," I told her evenly, flicking my eyes back over in the direction of the silent waves. The flashes of colour were larger, and therefore closer; midst all the movement, excited smiles were visible.

Okay; so I understand that technically, there was no such alliance between myself and the arrogant child that had control over the land which existed from the sea. However, by letting myself seem authoritative, I had saved more asses than I could count.

"The King..?" The girl seemed more confused than before, so I just kept myself quiet, ignoring the squawks of the Darkness as I forcibly propelled her towards the alley which I had had exited from only moments before.

"No time." Her air of uncertainty was causing her to hang back, not keeping up with my pace. I couldn't risk stalling any further. Back tracking to the central plaza of the town, my body carried us around the corners by itself, the path built into my very core; I kept a steady hand on the girls back to keep her moving with me.

"I can smell her..." A pained shudder ran across my skin, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled at the raspy nature behind the voice. It was less than three meters from us.

The girl whimpered, but the threat looming behind us was obviously taking its toll on her. "Come clooossserr..." Breath on the back of my neck. We couldn't stop now.

Just as a cold hand slipped across the back of my shirt, a solid figure slammed into my side, causing me to pull the girl with me. We fell into an open door to my right.

The girl screamed.