Ravyn of Death, Chapter 1

Chapter One

Two shadowy figures walked through the gloomy streets in the lonely hours of the night. The streets were quiet except for the few cars that drove by, stopped reluctantly at a red light, and then continued onward on their journey home. The air had a slight chill to it as the dark storm clouds heavily, lazily, rolled through the sky and shielded the moon with a faint veil of hazy darkness, making the night look spooky and mysterious. It looked as though it were the kind of night Dracula would come out to stalk helpless young women.

The two figures hardly took notice of this, however. They had their heads bent down and their eyes narrowed as they focused on what was in front of them. They were graceful as they walked, light on their feet and seemingly knowing a step ahead what was in front of them along the empty road. They wore an aura of confidence and determination, whether they knew it or not.

I watched from my perch against the wall of a quaint building, a lazy, careless slant to my posture as I stuffed my hands into my pockets, giving into a quiet sigh.

They seemed to have heard it, because they suddenly stopped their determined walk and turned toward me. I could see now that they were strangely pale, with black hoods up, shielding most of their faces. From what I could see--which wasn’t much--they had dark hair. Strands of it hung into their glowing eyes.

Wait, glowing? No, I must have been mistaken, because that wasn’t possible. I looked again. I must have looked ridiculous, looking at them as such, but I had to see if I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. The glow was gone now, but they glared at me as though I had done something incredibly wrong. For a moment, I actually believed it was true and wondered exactly what it was that I had done wrong.

I hadn’t done anything wrong that I knew of, unless sighing and looking at people had suddenly become a crime. I was sure that what I had been doing--sighing, breathing, living--was still legal. If it wasn’t, I certainly should have been told so I could be aware of it. As far as I knew, the law hadn’t changed.

Those people seemed to think otherwise; they began to walk toward me, the glares gone from their now blank, emotionless faces. As they got closer, I could see that one of them was a male. It was easy to tell by the broad shoulders that stuck out and by the way he walked. The other was shorter, leaner, and had a certain feminine way of walking. I guessed that one to be a girl.

They stopped in front of me, their hoods still up and their faces still blank. It was that void, detached look that made me want to push off from the wall and escape from the area as fast as possible. There was something otherworldly, inhuman--feral--about that stare, and I shivered involuntarily but never stopped leaning lazily against the wall, even though I didn’t feel lazy or careless anymore.

They were quiet as they stood there, making me uneasy. My heart raced in my chest as I looked into their seemingly black eyes. I was sure that their eyes weren’t really that dark, but the alley I was standing in sure made it seem that way. It only added to the creepy feeling that was already making its home within me, sending chills through my body and making me want to get out of there, quick.

They still weren’t speaking and were making me uneasy. I wanted to slap them and make them talk, but knew instantly, as soon as the thought even began to surface, that it would be a horrible idea. I would most likely be paying for it.

If they weren’t going to talk, I would. So I spoke: “Can I help you?” I let irritation seep into my voice to let them know that I didn’t like the way they were watching me with such silent, emotionless faces and vacant, opaque eyes. They still didn’t speak, and I swallowed back my rising fear and anxiousness as it began to form a lump in my throat. “I said, can I help you?”

It was the male that spoke first, watching me with those dark eyes that still managed to creep me out even though I knew it had to be from the darkness in the alley reflecting against them. “You were watching us,” he said, his voice smooth and entirely blank, no emotion in it whatsoever, just like his face and eyes.

“Not really,” I said. “I was just glancing around and I saw you. What, is that a crime now?” I pushed off of the wall and stood a little straighter, letting them know that they were making me mad.

A smirk crossed his face, making my hairs stand on end as I nearly took a step back at the sight of him. His smirk wasn’t amused or comforting or anything that made a smirk interesting and harmless. His smirk was dark and evil-looking, vile and cruel. Menacing and even callous as he stepped toward me.

I stumbled backward, tripping over my own feet in my haste to get away, crashing to the ground. I stared up at them with wide eyes as they both neared me, grinning down at me with looks full of malign and hate, of amusement and hunger. I couldn’t understand the last one but at that moment I didn’t care. I was too busy trying to crawl backward as fast as I could to get away, even though I was in a puddle and soaking wet.

“You shouldn’t have watched us,” the female hissed in a tedious, thick voice as she gave into a malicious laugh. “You should have just run along home, little girl.”

Little? She was the same size as I was, and she was calling me little? Normally I’d smack someone at the mention of my height, but right then I was too busy trying to get away from them as fast as I could, edging backward.

They followed after me as though I were magnetized to people and they couldn’t ignore the pull. I swallowed, fear seeping into my breathing as it turned slightly shallow.

“Leave me alone,” I uttered, scooting backward.

“Oh, we can’t do that,” the male cooed, edging nearer. “You saw us, little missy. We can’t allow you to live now.” He sighed dramatically, still grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “It’s sad, really, but what are you gonna do?” He laughed drearily, as though he were already bored with the way things were going. “I’m afraid it’s time to kiss your little life goodbye. I mean that figuratively, of course. You can’t kiss life, I’m afraid.”

I glared at him, my heart racing in my chest. “You’re crazy,” I said, struggling to get to my feet.

The girl snarled and lunged forward suddenly. I yelped and turned, trying to run away, but she grabbed my ankle and threw me back to the ground. That girl was strong. She turned me over onto my back and pinned my arms above my head. I squirmed and kicked at her with all my might, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She held me there like it was nothing, like I was a little, weak kitten that had been born the night before.

“Leggo!” I cried, struggling to break the hold she had on my wrists. She was holding them there with one hand, and it was like a strong manacle holding them in place. How could anyone have such a grip?

“You’re pretty,” she crooned in a monotonous voice, smirking as she bent toward me.

“You’re sick!” I spat in her face.

She glared and used her free hand to wipe the spit from the side of her nose. “You, little girl, are not nice.”

“I never claimed to be,” I snapped. “Now leggo of me!”

She sighed. “I can’t do that. So sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry at all. She laughed and turned her head, looking back at the male. “Ravyn, what should we do with her?”

The male, Ravyn, shrugged. “What do I care? Just hurry up, would you? I don’t want more people looking for us.”

The girl snorted. “You’re no fun, you know.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just hurry up, Kim.”

The girl, Kim, looked back at me. Now that she was closer, I could see that her eyes were really that dark. They looked black as she leaned toward me, that malevolent grin plastered on her face. Her teeth were stained red. I didn’t want to know why.

“I could use you,” Kim said. “You’re much prettier than this body.” She laughed in such an impassive manner that made me shiver as chills crawled up my spine.

I struggled more but no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to break her hold. It worried me and I was beginning to become scared out of my mind. “Let go!” I shouted at her. “You sick freak, let go of me!”

“Freak, am I?” Her eyes flashed to a crimson red. I stared, horrified. She raised her hand and her nails grew to a point as they extended when the sleeve of her hood-like-cloak fell back to reveal her hand. The nails had a red glow to them, and I choked on a scream as she brought one to my cheek and rubbed them against it. “Little girls shouldn’t say such things.”

“Get away from me! Help!” I was done with trying to get away and trying to get these two to listen to me. They obviously weren’t going to, so I had to try a different tactic. I sucked in a large intake of breath, my lungs expanding until they couldn’t anymore, and opened my mouth to scream. “He-”

Her hand covered my mouth, her nails gripping at the sides of my face as she let out a hiss, her obscure, odious eyes narrowed vindictively. “Don’t scream,” she ordered, her voice still hissing through her teeth. “You’ll just make things worse for yourself, little girl.”

Tears flooded my eyes. What was going on? I clenched my eyes tightly closed and tried to tilt my head away as a tear dripped sluggishly, reluctantly, down the side of my face, as though it too feared her and what was going to happen next.

“Back away from her,” a calm, smooth voice said, different from Ravyn’s. My eyes snapped open and I looked around and tilted my head back to see someone standing several yards away. He had black hair and had a nice tan as he stood in the faint glow coming off of a nearby street light. His amber eyes seemed to flash as he looked at the three of us.

Kim hissed and jumped to her feet, releasing me as she and Ravyn sent the new guy an ominous glare full of flaming hatred. Ravyn took an aggressive step forward, snarling, his lips pulled back to show his red-stained teeth. Kim stood next to him, doing the same, jerking her hood back.

Kim had long, excessively dark brown hair that went past her shoulders, ending in a slight, outward curl. Her skin wasn’t exactly white, but it was still pale by most standards. Her eyes, still black and ireful, seemed to suck the life out of the area with that stare of hers.

I stared up at her from where I lay on the ground, terrified and too numb to get to my feet at the moment. I was afraid that if I were to try and get to my feet, she would give me that blank, emotionless look again and I would freeze, giving her time to pounce. So I stayed where I was, motionless on the ground, frozen with anxious fear and apprehension.

The newcomer didn’t back down, though. He stood there, an unruffled, relaxed, assertive air about him as he smirked insouciantly, as though he knew he could take on Ravyn and Kim and get away alive. I wasn’t so sure, but didn’t dare question anything that was going on. Whatever got me out of this alive, I was okay with it. Whatever it took to get me away from these grotesque, bizarre freaks.

Ravyn glared at Kim as she gripped his shoulder, nudging him backward. She murmured something to him, but it was too low and too quiet for me to hear. Ravyn hesitated, sent a livid glare in the newcomer’s direction, and then turned around with Kim, fleeing the area. They moved so quickly that I was sure that this was a dream. They were gone before I managed to blink the tears from my eyes and release a shaky, precarious breath.

The newcomer was suddenly at my side when I opened my eyes. I stared at him. Three freckles splotched his nose as his eyes glittered. “Are you all right?” he asked, giving a minuscule smirk as he helped me into a sitting position. His voice was quiet and not at all threatening--that was definitely a welcoming change.

“I’m fine,” I murmured, the blood rushing to my cheeks as I looked away from him. I was embarrassed to be looking so weak and vulnerable at the moment. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone with my self-loathing? I made to get to my feet and he moved away a little as I brushed the dirt and mud off of me as best as I could.

“You sure?” he asked, a concerned cadence to his voice.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m fine. You can go now.” I just wanted to get home--was that so much to ask?

“You think you can get home okay? I should go with you, make sure those two aren’t lingering around.”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll be fine. I just wanna get home.” I started walking from the alley. I made sure my steps were quiet so I could listen to see if he was going to follow me anyway, but his footsteps never reverberated behind me. Good, he had listened to me. Finally, some good news for today.

As I walked home, I couldn’t help but wonder at what was going on and who those surreptitious, outlandish people were. And, even though I didn’t like it, I was wondering who that newcomer was, and if I would see him again.

A part of me never wanted to be anywhere near him ever again, but another part of me longed to see his lustrous, iridescent eyes and tan face with the three freckles splattered on his nose. What was wrong with me?

I was crazy, completely insane and out of my mind--that was all there was to it. Right?