Chapter Three

The Girl in the Rain

The Davis house was located in the elite side of Chester, much farther west and closer to the town border. It

was a gigantic building, with four floors including the basement and attic, with a lovely front garden of exotic flowers,

and a cute white fence lining the entire perimeter and circling the enormous playset stationed on the right side. At night,

however, it had a certain eerie air about it, since it was surrounded on one side and back by thick vegetation, and it sat on

a relatively quiet street. The only light came from the single dim candle placed in every window.

I breathed out a quiet moan, curling myself up closer to the armrest and pulling the blanket tighter about me. I

was sprawled out on the comfy sofa sitting before the TV in the relatively small den, watching some late night talkshow

or other droning on and on. Somewhere between the time I had arrived and the present, an unexpected storm had

broken out overhead, releasing deafening peals of thunder and flashes of light as heavy rain hammered against the

windowpanes. One glance down at my watch told me it was going on one thirty in the morning (at least I think that’s

what it said, it was kind of hard to see in the dark), and I immediately let out another groan and shifted a pillow beneath

my head. “This is ridiculous...” I grumbled warily, closing my eyes for a second but reopening them to stare at the

television again, which had now been interrupted by a newscaster warning about the violent storm outside. “Why do I

even bother coming here anymore? I don’t like doing it, the kid’s a brat, the parents don’t come home till really late, and it

really doesn’t pay to well.....maybe I’ll just say I’m busy next time...” However, my exhausted mind knew this was

totally false, since the one daughter, Julia, truly was a sweetheart and usually went to bed without me even asking (as she

had done only a few hours earlier, which I was extremely thankful for), the parents more often than not came home

before midnight, and they gave me an excess amount of money for the job - ten dollars an hour for one child plus a fifteen

dollar tip and gifts at Christmas. But at that point, I was in no mood to try and cheer myself up.

Several seconds of silence passed, with the exception of the sound of a car commercial from the TV and the rain

continuing to pound viciously against the glass against the left wall, and I think I had managed to drift off into an

unintentional sleep, with my arms sprawled lazily up over my head and the rest of my body slumped awkwardly beneath

the quilt. Both the droning television and thumping rainfall both gradually faded away into my exhausted subconscious.

All of a sudden I sat straight up with a violent jolt.

“Ouch!!” I screamed abruptly, probably much louder than I meant to, immediately shoving aside my blanket,

seizing the bottom edge of my white blouse, and jerking it viciously upwards. Panting, I gazed down at my bare stomach

and suddenly noticed the form of my pendant, swaying idly from side to side and casting its unusual shape as a shadow

across my pale flesh. Its chain was much longer than I had expected it to be, and it hung from around my neck to just

beneath the bottom of my ribcage. I had completely forgotten about it.

I slowly ran my hand across my stomach, then winced noticeably as I felt a hot spark of fiery pain on the spot

about three or so inches above my belly button. “Crap...” I muttered angrily, now noticing the scarlet burn forming on

my pale skin. “Now what in the world was that??! All of a sudden there’s this scorching heat on my stomach, and now

I’ve got this - ” I fell silent as my eyes came to the necklace, still beating lightly against me, gleaming brightly in the pale

light from the TV. Suddenly my mind drifted to the situation in my room, and how it had supposedly turned burning hot

then too.....What did it all mean?

All at once, a muffled noise came from outside the den, in the entrance room. I froze for a moment, then pulled

down my shirt, fumbled into the couch cushions to retrieve the remote, and muted the TV, shifting forward to listen

more intently. At first all I could hear was the pounding rain against the window, but after a moment or two later the

sound came again - a girl was crying.

I shifted to my feet, knocking several pillows to the floor, and exited the den. I heard the noise again - a quiet,

sniffing wail - but no matter where I seemed to move, it didn’t get any closer. “...Julia?” I whispered, my voice hoarse as

I stepped warily through the vast entrance chamber, around the grand piano and towards the wooden, carpeted staircase.

“Julia, are you down here...? What’s the matter, Julia...?”

The entrance room was enormous and tall, but eerily dark and chillingly silent. The only light was that from the

flickering candle in each window, the glow from the TV in the den bleeding in through the doorway, and the occasional

lightning flares from outside. Dimly in each flash of thunderbolt I could see the ghostly forms of black and white portraits

hanging from the walls of the stairway, portraying expressionless people staring blankly out into the murkiness. A loud

peal of thunder exploded from overhead, rattling the windows and causing the floor to stir beneath my feet.

I paused. The sound had stopped.

I shifted my body left and right, straining my ears, but I couldn’t hear it anymore - the sobbing girl had

completely left earshot. All that was audible now was the merciless rain and sporadic thunderclaps.

But I heard another noise now, coming from the kitchen - it sounded like a dog barking.

Immediately I exhaled an irritated breath, turned on my heel, and sauntered into the dark kitchen. I had to

strain my eyes a bit, but almost instantly I noticed the form of a large kennel positioned beside the marble countertop,

inside which a black shadow was struggling and squirming noisily.

“Sebastian!!” I hissed angrily, drawing up beside the cage and bending down so I could see inside. “Be quiet!!”

The Davises’ enormous golden retriever, Sebastian, seemed to be leaping up and down anxiously, pawing at the

wire pen, barking and howling loudly. Occasionally he’d fall to his front paws and scrape helplessly at the floor, whining,

his toenails giving off a shrill grating noise as they scratched at the tile. “Sebastian, shush!” I ordered viciously, lifting a

finger to my lips. “What’s the matter with you, you stupid dog, be quiet!! It’s only thunder, for God’s sake, it’s not going

to hurt you!! You’ll wake up Julia, will you shut up?!”

He was completely ignoring me, now snarling and gnawing angrily at the fencing. Suddenly he would drop

helplessly onto his stomach and try to cover his face with his paws, emitting high-pitched whining sounds. I turned

about, ripped open a cabinet door, and removed a box of doggie treats. “Here, you idiot, is this what you want?” I

questioned nastily, pulling out a small bone and dangling it over the kennel. “Are you hungry? Is that all?”

It obviously wasn’t, because he didn’t stop. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be getting worse. He kept

emitting loud, menacing growls, snapping at the sides of his cage, and then suddenly he would collapse to his belly and

cry noisily. I slammed the box down onto the countertop, then turned back towards him. “Well, then what the heck do

you want?! What will make you shut up, you stupid dog??!”

“...Nikka...?”

I must have leapt about six feet into the air and almost keeled over, but I managed to spin about clumsily and

face to the doorway of the kitchen. There sat a rather short, petite girl, around the age of five, with long brown hair

twisted into two cute braided pigtails and hazel eyes, dressed in a pair of flannel pajamas decorated with white clouds.

She was staring blearily up at me, rubbing her eyes with her hands and occasionally letting out a gaping yawn. I exhaled

a breath of relief and slowly felt my heart returning to its normal pace. “...G...Good heavens, Julia, what on earth are you

doing up? Do you know what time it is?”

“What’s wrong with Sebastian...?” she asked me groggily, yawning again.

“...Er - ” I cast an aggravated glare down at the dog beside me, still clawing at his cage and letting out a series of

wails and howls. “It’s nothing. He just doesn’t like the rain, that’s all.” I turned back towards her. “What about you??

Why are you awake? Are you scared of the thunder?”

“...No...” She rubbed at her eyes, her sleeves so long that they dropped over her fingertips.

“Did you have a scary dream?”

“...No...” She yawned.

“...Then what’s the matter??” I gazed quizzically down at her small form. “Why in the world are you awake at

such an hour, then?? And why were you crying??”

“...I wasn’t crying, I was asleep...” she told me, pausing again as another yawn broke through her lips. “...And

suddenly, he woke me up...”

I froze. Wait a second, what did she just say? “........Excuse me..?”

“...The man,” she answered me, rubbing her nose with her sleeve. “...The man in my room.”

I felt a terrified jolt snap through my body and my eyes widen, but I tried to remain calm as my insides quivered

and my mind created pictures of the hideous murderer. “...Oh, Julia, you were just having a nightmare...”

“...No, I wasn’t,” she answered me confidently, shaking her head. “He woke me up. He came over to my bed

and shook my shoulder, an’ he asked me where the other little girl was, an’ I told him I didn’t know, so he left.”

My hands seemed to have lost their feeling, and some sort of ravenous pain was cleaving its way through my

stomach. “....Oh, Julia, don’t be ridiculous....It’s OK if you were afraid of the lightning and started to cry. I won’t make

fun of - ”

“...I told you, I wasn’t crying,” she huffed, placing her fists on her hips and pushing her arms wide. “I said that

the man woke me up. The man in my room. I told him I didn’t know where the other girl was, so he left. Weren’t you

listening??”

I was gawking vacantly down at her small form, which was still yawning and rubbing at its eyes, but I could

feel my hands quivering at my sides. Sebastian was still yelping and writhing about in his kennel, now rolling violently

around on his back and scratching anxiously at the air. Another clap of thunder sounded deafeningly out overhead, and it

was me, not Julia, who sprang into the air. I hesitated for a moment, eyeing the pounding rain on the exterior of the

window beside me, then gazed back down at Julia. “....What...what did he look like....?”

“It was kinda dark, so I couldn’t see too well,” she answered casually, gazing up at me through her unnaturally

large hazel eyes. “But he was pretty tall, an’ his voice sounded kinda angry, like he was mad at something. An’ when I

told him I didn’t know where the other girl was, he let out this really angry growl and ran out of my room.”

A loud creak sounded out from the hallway behind me, but I began to chant in my head that it was only the

house settling. “...J...Julia.....when...when you told him you didn’t know about the girl...where did he go...?”

“Hmm?” Julia glanced up at me again. “I’m not sure. He just turned around and ran out into the hallway. I

really don’t know where he went.”

Sebastian let out another howl, throwing himself up onto his hind legs and tearing at the bars of the kennel. I

froze for a moment, gazing out the window again, then looked back down at Julia. “...Listen, Julia, I...why don’t we play

a game? You...you go hide in the bathroom and lock the door.”

She eyed me suspiciously. “That sounds like a really boring game.”

“...Well - ” I winced and was cut short as another blast of thunder detonated from overhead, and I watched

nervously as Sebastian sank back down onto his stomach, emitting quiet, frightened whimpers. “....No, no, it’s a really

fun game, I play it all the time.....It’s called....er....‘Castle.’ You’re the beautiful princess locked up in the castle, and the

only way I can save you from the evil witch is if I can say the secret password.”

“Ooh!!” she squealed excitedly, seemingly intrigued. “Can I have a pretty crown??”

“....Umm...” The dog was really worrying me now; he looked like he was driven into a state of confused

delirium, since I could see saliva dripping from his closed jaws down onto the floor. “...S...sure, sure, you can have a

crown, whatever you want....Now listen, you can only open the door if I say the secret password, which is...umm...”

“Choc’ate chips!!” she piped up enthusiastically, clapping her hands together.

“...Y...Yeah, that’s it, ‘chocolate chips.’ That’s the secret password.” Sebastian let out another high-pitched

whine, more drool dripping from his mouth, as a earsplitting thunderclap echoed overhead and the house was illuminated

by a bright lightning flare. “OK, Julia, the beautiful princess can only open the door if the person says the secret

password, all right? So keep the door locked until I say ‘chocolate chips.’ If anyone says anything else, you can’t open

the door. If you do, you’ll....be changed into a green ugly toad. OK?? You understand??”

“Mmmm...” She seemed to be thinking about this, then nodded eagerly. “Yeah, OK!! Just don’t take too long,

OK? I don’t to spend forever locked in that horrible castle!” She turned on her heel and skipped happily out into the

darkness of the hallway, and I listened after her for a second until I heard a door snap shut, followed by a loud clicking

noise. Locked. Julia was safe.

I hesitated for only a moment, staring uncomfortably down at the unusually peaceful dog, who cast a glance up

at me through one cloudy, frightened eye. Instantly I whirled about, dashed towards the phone, and snatched up the

receiver. I held it to my ear; there was no dial tone. The phone lines were dead.

I slammed it back down, then revolved in place and eyed the dark kitchen, lit up only for a moment by another

crack of lightning. Although his kennel had left my field of vision, I could still hear Sebastian’s soft whimpers sounding

out from the other side of the countertop. Could the dog sense someone was here that usually wasn’t? Is that why he

was acting so strange? Or was it just because of the thunder?

I left the stability of the counter and gradually staggered my way out into the hallway, passing by the closed

bathroom door, where I could hear the muffled sound of Julia’s voice singing brightly, “Someday my prince will come.....”

It gradually faded from earshot as I entered the large, dark living room, which was filled with a thick murky blackness

(that shadow in the corner was only a lamp, wasn’t it? Of course, it had to be) with the exception of the thin waning

light coming through the enormous sliding glass doors, though varnished with a coat of streaking water drops, showing

out onto the wooden back patio. Faintly beyond that I could see the shuddering forms of black shrubs, quivering from

every merciless attack of rain, and past even that, the ominous shadow of the surrounding forest.

A sudden dark form sprinted past the outside of the glass doors.

For a split second a frightened paralysis had shot through my veins, and then immediately I leapt backwards -

slamming clumsily into the wall - with a terrified gasp. The burn of fear was still coursing through my bloodstream, and

my heart was fluttering so fast I was afraid it would burst through my shirt. I sat, panting helplessly in my place against

the wall, watching the suspended chandelier overhead sway from the sudden impact.

From somewhere behind me I heard a muted voice exclaim, “Nikka, have you come to save me yet??”

I couldn’t find my voice to answer, still gaping blankly at the glass doors. I hadn’t just seen that.... It must have

been a trick of the light with my overactive imagination....There was no one here, how could they have gotten in the

house...?

“Nikka?” Julia called again.

I had a sudden fear that she would unlock the door and come out to find me, so I immediately shouted back

(without removing my eyes from the sliding doors), “...I...I’m coming, Julia, don’t worry!! Ju...just stay in there until I get

there!! Don’t turn into a toad!”

I listened for a moment, just to make sure she truly wasn’t going to exit the bathroom, then took two shaking

steps forward towards the doors. My legs seemed hardly able to support me, quivering pathetically under my weight as I

moved, and as I finally walked up to the doors I could see my terrified expression mirrored back at me. I lifted one hand,

hesitated, then grabbed hold of the handle, snapped open the lock, and whipped the door open. I suddenly became all too

aware of the frigid climate outside the heated house, and the deafening pound of the rain against wood that was no longer

muffled by the walls. I paused for a second time, then finally took one shaking step out onto the threshold and cast a

glance back and forth. Everything seemed reasonably quiet and motionless, with the exception of the quivering foliage

and vicious rain, with no evidence of any sign of life.

I finally stepped out onto the terrace, out from beneath the protective overhang above me and into the icy rain.

My panting breaths misted in the cold night air before me.

Rain was now streaming down my face, soaking my hair, seeping through my clothes. I proceeded slowly out

onto the deck, glancing warily back and forth for any sudden movements. At a scratchy rustle, my head snapped

painfully over in the direction of the wooden staircase leading off the patio, to where a line of bushes sat. The one closest

to the terrace shivered again, much more noticeably than the others shaking with rain, and I could have sworn I heard I

soft, choked sob.

I sucked in a breath and held it, slowly walking down the four stairs and now standing beside the shrub. It’s

just the rain, it’s just the rain, it’s just the rain..... I squeezed my eyes shut, biting mercilessly at my lip, then seized hold

of the bush and pulled aside the top branch.

There was a loud gasp, and my eyes whipped open.

Sitting at my feet, now revealed because I had pulled away the leaves covering her, sat a small girl, probably

about Julia’s age, with dirty reddish hair falling wildly around her shoulders and face. She was gaping in horror up at me,

holding one hand against her as if in defense, with her bottom lip quivering. It was then that I noticed her clothes - they

were so strange-looking, like they were from another time period, with a ripped brown dress resembling a potato sack

and an ugly bleached apron, torn as well, coupled with bulky, heavy-looking boots. Water was streaking down her dirty

face, already stained with tears, and I noticed several cuts and scratches showing obviously on her pale arms. She

wouldn’t remove her eyes from me.

The silence between us continued for several seconds, until a lighting flash revealed more tears and panic

shimmering in her eyes. I instantly pushed the thought of the man aside and leaned in towards her. “...Hey...” I

whispered softly, then hesitated as she drew backwards again with a frightened whimper. “...Hey, hey, it’s all right...I

won’t hurt you, I promise...It’s OK, really....What’s your name? What are doing here so late?”

She gaped at me like a deer caught in headlights, spilling tears down her muddy cheeks and panting loudly. She

didn’t seem willing to answer me.

“...It’s OK, it’s OK...” I comforted her, although it didn’t look like it was working. “I won’t hurt you, I told you

so....Please calm down, it’ll be all right - ”

“Don’t let him find me!!” she burst out suddenly, causing me to jolt backwards with a startled gasp. “Please, I’m

begging you, don’t let him find me!!”

I blinked several times, staring blankly down at her. “...Wh...what...?”

“Please, don’t let him know where I am!!” she sobbed desperately, drawing back deeper into the bush. “If...if he

finds me, he’ll beat me....He’ll beat me for running away, he’ll...he’ll.....o no no no, please don’t let him find me!! Don’t let

him know!!”

“What?” I gaped down at her in absolute shock.

A sudden scraping noise came from over my head, and I watched the little girl’s eyes grow wider than they

already had been, gawking in terror up over my shoulder. I froze for a second, watching her, then sluggishly turned

about in place and directed my vision upwards.

Kneeling atop the shingled overhang, blurred through the silver sheet of falling water, sat the dark form of a

man.

I instinctively let out a piercing scream, leaping backwards and almost tumbling off balance, and behind me, still

ducking beneath the bush, the small girl let out an shrill squeal, leaping hastily to her feet and dashing off deeper into the

rain. “No!!!” she shrieked tearfully, shielding her face with her arms as she sprinted desperately towards the forest.

“No!! No, please!!! I’m sorry!! Don’t hurt me, Rael, I’m sorry!! Let me go!! Rael, stop - !!!”

The man instantly sprang upwards, landing gracefully on the patio before me and shoving roughly by my

petrified form pressed up against the wall of the house, dashing after the girl. She let out another screech and tried to run

faster, but he was much quicker than she was, and only had to stretch out his hand before he seized her roughly by the

hair and tugged her to a violent stop. I watched in horror, my hands clapped over my mouth, as the child continued to

scream pathetically, trying futilely to yank her hair free of his grasp, but the man simply let out an aggravated snarl and

hurled her mercilessly to the ground, sending her skidding several painful feet across the mud. She remained sprawled

out on the ground, choking miserably on her sobs with her face buried in the muck, and the man stood ominously above

her, glaring angrily down at her small body at his feet. He finally remained motionless long enough for me to get a good

look at him: he was tall, as Julia had said, and older than I was, probably close to 20 years old, with wild, spiky brown

hair enveloping his scalp and much of his complexion as well, since it was drooping because of the rain. His face was

covered from beneath the nose down by a scarlet ascot of some sort, wrapped about the bottom of his head and draped

about his shoulders so that the rest of it hung behind him like a cape. The rest of his clothes were are strange as the

girl’s, and rather medieval-looking, consisting of a shirt and baggy pants connected by a large, gold-buckled leather belt and

brown rawhide boots.

“....Rael...” the girl sobbed quietly, her voice muffled by the mud and her arms covering her head, as if expecting

some sort of beating. “....No....I said I was sorry....Rael, please...”

“Silence, you stupid wench!!” the man snapped nastily, and I noticed the girl wince noticeably at the sound of

his voice. “How dare you try and run from me, are you daft?! I’ll teach you to listen, I will, and this time you won’t

forget!”

“Rael, please!!” she shrieked, still not removing her face from the ground. “Please, no!!”

“Stop it!!” I suddenly found myself screaming, and for a moment I wasn’t absolutely sure it was my voice. The

man immediately paused, turning his head to stare at me through the one eye that was still visible from beneath his wet

hair. Even the girl lifted her head from the dirt slightly in order to gape blankly at me. I took several firm steps forward,

rapidly approaching their two forms positioned at the outskirts of the forest. “You cut that out right now!” I ordered

resolutely, pointing a finger over at the man. “I won’t let you hurt that girl!! Lay one finger on her and I’ll call the

police!!”

He remained motionless, and his eye didn’t leave my advancing form. “....Don’t push your luck, my dear...”

“Shut up!!” I commanded viciously, my gait remaining determined as I neared his side. “I don’t know who you

think you are or what your doing here, but that’s enough!! You’ve already frightened the poor girl plenty, and I think that

she knows she was wrong!! She should call DYFUS if she knew what was good for her - ”

“...I don’t think you heard me...” He casually flipped aside one side of his cape, and my confident steps drew to

an abrupt and jerky halt as he pulled out a long, silver-bladed sword from a hidden sheath at his side and held it out before

him, only centimeters from my nose. I choked out a petrified whimper, gaping blankly down at the weapon before my

face. “...A smart one, are you...?” Though his mouth wasn’t visible, I could hear in his voice that he was smirking.

“Well, now I do believe you’re in over your head.....Can’t have you go around spreading rumors of what you’ve seen,

eh...?”

In the split-second flash of lightning that erupted overhead, I caught a glimpse of him sweeping his sword back

in one smooth motion. I let out a terrified scream, diving forward onto my stomach (and landing messily next to the girl),

as with the shrill whistle of metal slicing through air he swung his blade out in a powerful arc before him, slashing

straight through the place where I had been standing. If I hadn’t moved, my head would have fallen from my shoulders.

I had plunged face-first straight down in the mud, and I could feel it slithering wetly off my cheeks as I

sluggishly lifted my head from the dirt. The girl at my side was gawking emptily at my soiled face through wide, tearing

eyes in total disbelief. For some reason, she was ogling at me as if a pair of horns had just sprouted out of my head.

The man standing above me let out an aggravated snarl, and I heard his sword shriek through the air over his

head a second time. A sudden surge of adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream, and I suddenly found myself

throwing my body roughly to the side, tumbling over several times across the dirt, as his blade sliced a deep scrape into

the mud where I had been sprawled before. The rain pounded against my ears.

I spun to a clumsy, abrupt halt, stopping breathlessly on my back in the slimy muck. The rain was continuing to

hammer mercilessly down onto my filthy body. I heard the sound of the man trudging angrily over towards me, leaving

deep, furious prints in the mud, and soon I felt his form draw up over me. “...It’s over, you foolish girl...” he hissed

nastily, and I could hear him lifting his sword above his head for the final stroke. “The ultimate judgment awaits you...”

I squeezed my eyes shut, no longer able to move. This was a dream, it had to be....All these hallucinations I had

been seeing - the ravens, the mist, and now strangers out in the rain - none of it could be real. This sort of stuff didn’t

happen to an average, teenage schoolgirl. No, it didn’t happen to anyone. It was ridiculous. I would count to three, and I

would wake up on the couch in the Davises’ den. One....

There was another explosion of thunder, muffling the man’s voice, which sounded like it was saying, “...not

much for the clothes.....hair get a good price...”

Two....

Something felt like it was burning against my side....Was I going delirious?

“....skin too...” the man’s voice continued through the next clap of thunder shaking the mud beneath me and

sending wide ripples through the puddles around me. “...but have to --- inspect other merchandise...”

Two and a half....This didn’t usually take so long, did it...?

Now I could feel it...he was bringing his sword down again in a swift arc, slicing straight down towards my

motionless body stuck helplessly to the muck. I couldn’t open my eyes....it had to be a dream..!! Three...!! Three! Why

wasn’t anything happening? The burning against me, growing so much more vicious....and why were Lydia’s words from

earlier in the day echoing in my head? “All of his organs were missing....dealing with a pro....one clean cut, no mess at

all...”

The whistling sound of his approaching sword halted. All I could hear was the deafening rain and what

sounded like another thunderclap.

Was that it? Was I dead?

I hesitated for a moment, then forced one eye open. Instantly I let out a terrified gasp - there, maybe only a

centimeter or two from my nose, sat the glittering blade of the sword, only a split second from cutting into my flesh. I

gaped blankly up at it for a second, so close I could feel its metallic coldness against my face, then slowly lifted my eyes to

the man. His one visible eye had gone wide with absolute shock, directed down next to me, at the mud. The hand

holding the hilt of his sword had begun to quiver.

“...The Eye...” he whispered hoarsely, not removing his eyes from the ground.

I didn’t move, then slowly followed his gaze to my side and instantly noticed a glittering gold sheen emanating

from the dark mud. After squinting my eyes against the blinding rain, I immediately recognized it - it was the necklace I

had found in the attic, smeared slightly with droplets of slime, but still gazing enigmatically out into the dark through its

shimmering red jewel. It must have slipped free of my collar when I had leapt away from his sword.

The man continued to gape down at me, then suddenly seemed to break free of his trance and lunged down

towards me, his hand outstretched. “Give it to me!!”

I let out a loud, piercing scream, throwing myself to the side again and managing to roll rather awkwardly up

into a kneeling position. The man immediately rounded back towards me, his eyes locked impartially on the necklace

hanging about my throat. “....St...stay away from me...” I commanded shakily, barely able to talk through my quivering

lower lip as I slowly faltered to my feet. “...Don’t...don’t make me hurt you, I’ve...I’ve beaten up guys much tougher than

you before...” I wonder who I was talking about?

The man thrust an angry hand out towards me. “Hand it over!! Now!!”

“...What...what are - ” I stuttered.

“The Eye, you fool!!” he shouted furiously. “You cannot own it!! Give it to me!!”

“What...” My eyes finally fell to the pendant against my chest, towards which he seemed to be reaching.

“...My...my necklace...?” My mind slowly drifted to the wall in the attic: “Here Lies the Eye of the Blind.” This

medallion...is that what the inscription was talking about...??

“Enough!!” With one final angry shout the man gripped his sword again and made a lunge towards me, his hand

stretched toward the glittering necklace. I let out another shriek and threw myself backwards, instinctively grabbing

hold of the hanging charm and immediately feeling how unbearably hot it had grown.

I emitted an ear-piercing scream as with devastating impact large arcs of scarlet light snapped out of the charm’s

red gem in sharp, whiplike motions. The force of air pressure itself catapulted me roughly against the trunk of a tree

behind me, and, forcing myself to remain standing while no breath remained in me, managed to glance up. “What....What

is this?!?”

“No!!!” the man’s voice shouted angrily, and faintly I could see him shielding himself from the vicious light. “No,

let it go!! Let go of it, before it’s too late!! Release the Eye!!”

I was completely encompassed by heavy crimson illumination, so dense I couldn’t even see the man anymore.

“Help me!!!” I screamed loudly, bracing myself against the powerful gusts of unearthly wind that lashed through the

brilliant ruby radiation surrounding me. “What’s going on??!!” I could feel the light encircling my body, causing my

breaths to get caught in my throat and almost crippling me to my knees. “Someone help me!!” I shrieked one final time,

squeezing my eyes shut and holding my arms protectively up in front of my face. The scarlet light was crushing me in a

tight, constricting grip. “What’s going on??!!! Someone help me!!!!...” All at once the illumination grew radiantly deeper,

engulfing me in the smothering crimson blanket. I shut my eyes in absolute horror, and everything gradually faded to

black. Faintly I could hear the man screaming to me through the light, but eventually this too deteriorated into darkness,

serenity, and silence.

*Author's Note (theyre back! o_O;) ~ I kinda like this chapter. I dunno, what does everyone esle think...? ^^ *

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