Northwood

Pulling herself to a standing position Adline turned and stared down at Victoria’s lifeless body as the bile rose in her stomach and up into her throat. Turning from her victim sharply she felt her stomach heave as she doubled over and vomited at her feet. The foul smelling puddle barely spreading from where it landed. Falling to her knees she sucked in air to try fill her lungs as if it were the last time she would ever do it.

A deep sense of disgust filled her as the anger she had been feeling towards Victoria subsided. What had she done? Turning her head back slightly to the woman who had been her biggest adversary she saw the pool of thick, dark red blood grow beneath her and with another heave Adline vomited again.

So many questions fluttered carelessly through her mind as her body shook and trembled in terror.

"I thought you wanted my help,” a voice rang out in the silence like one would ring out over the loudspeaker in a store. It completely startled Adline and sent hairs on the back of her neck rising. It was not a good feeling.

“Who’s there! Who are you?!” She demanded as she cast her eyes around the room wildly.

"You prayed to the Moon Goddess for strength but you were clouded by fear and terror,” the voice had a wispy tone to it and sounded as though it were weak or distant. Adline couldn’t decide which it was but she knew instantly that her prayers had not quite made it to the Moon Goddess. ”With fear and terror dominating your soul it became music to my ears,” the more the mysterious voice spoke the more malicious it became.

“Who are you!!” She demanded as her fear was again replaced by anger.

“I am darkness, I am fear, I am the brother of the Moon Goddess here to help you” The voice spoke slowly with purpose and meaning to each word. ”let me guide you Adline. Let me lead you to freedom.”

Shaking her head furiously Adline closed her eyes against the disgust, against the pain, against everything she felt. In that moment she had never been more disappointed in all her life but she knew that it had been done and she knew there was no going back. There was no magic button that could undo it and no time machine that could take her back to fix what had happened.

“I will not let you control me again!” She shouted into the empty room. The angry, heavy and depressing feelings she felt at the moment of Victoria’s death was something else. Never had she thought herself capable of such things but it seemed she didn’t know herself all that well.

"The true darkness of man is revealed in their weakest moments," It now sounded like the voice mocked her. ”The true nature of what man is capable of rises out of fear. You wanted to do it, you wanted to sink your fingers into her chest, you wanted to pull her heart out.” The mocking tone did not ease in the voice as Adline began feeling ill once again. She put her hands to her mouth and raked her fingers downwards as if trying to remove something from herself. She didn’t know what it was and didn’t know how to fix it. How had she been so weak in what she thought was her strongest moment?

How was it that to overcome one adversary she had to submit and let herself be controlled by something she couldn’t even see? Pulling her hands down to look at them with her own eyes she noted the blood dripping from her fingers, it was not hers but she wished deep down that some of it was. The way the encounter with Victoria played out in her head was much different to what had just happened. Climbing to her feet she pressed herself against a wall and again cast her glance around the room.

In the corner of her eye she saw movement but every time she turned her head to look at what it was the movement stayed in the corner of her eye. “Where are you! Show yourself you coward!” She screamed wildly as she turned in circles again and again trying to catch the figure.

A laugh rang out in the silence stopping Adline dead in her tracks. It sounded like it was right at her shoulder, it sounded like she could turn and a face would be there staring menacingly at her. Taking a chance she turned slightly to where she thought she heard the voice only to see it empty. Again it cackled at her mockingly, ”you are not as smart as I thought you’d be Adline Hutton.”

She hated the voice that spoke to her, that belittled her and treated her no better than a child. She wanted to see it destroyed, obliterated by her hand. She had been used, she had been played but for the time being she didn’t know her opponent. She didn’t know how powerful he was and could be.

Adline watched as the dusty blinds that sat perfectly framed in the grimy glass windows closing one at a time in slow succession.

She steadied herself on her shaky legs that seemed to have turned to jelly in the presence of what she thought was a figment of her imagination. She was battered but she was not beat. She would not allow herself to be bested by a shadow.

“You will not harm me. I will not give you the strength to invade my body and mind again!” She was determined to be free and she knew now that the only way she would be free was if she did it herself. It seemed she couldn’t even rely on the deity, the goddess they prayed to most for help. “You will not use me again! I am not afraid of you.” She stood defiantly in the newly darkened room. Cut off from the outside world. Cut off from everything she knew.

How was she to escape this time?

Again the voice laughed mockingly at her, “I sense you are unafraid of me.” It began slowly as a dark cloudy swirl formed right in front of Adline’s eyes. It was like a little tornado of terror materialised out of nothing. ”I also sense your desssssperation to escape,” he said with a great emphasis on desperation. Adline didn’t know how to handle the situation but she had to think quickly.

Walking out to the streets of the place she knew so well would be a death sentence especially if Luce and Ambrose found her. Especially if they knew what she’d done to Victoria. Especially if they saw her running for her life.

“I will escape you! I will escape this place and figure out how to kill you!” She screamed as the whirling, black vortex now stretched from floor to ceiling.

For a moment Adline found herself distracted as she stared up at the top of the vortex wondering if it would suck the entire building in.

"You will escape this place Adline but only because I want you to. Only because I have plans for you," his voice again caught her off guard and as she pulled her eyes down to look at where the vortex had been she found a young man in its place.

His dark hair looked wet or greasy. His skin, though clear was much paler than any she had ever laid eyes on before and his cheeks were gaunt. He was tall and slender and overall quite sickly looking. He didn’t look capable of doing any harm but Adline had learned rather quickly that looks could be deceiving. His eyes were light blue and not only did they look completely soulless but they bored holes straight through her. He was looking into her very soul. More than a little unnerving.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his dry, chapped lips, ”run, run little Adline. I’ll be kind and give you a head start." The front door of the building slammed open with such ferocity that the glass panes on the window near it smashed into a thousand pieces.

Adline didn’t know if he were joking but she wasn’t waiting around for him to change his mind. Running past him and out through the front door she sucked in quick breaths and kept her movements restricted. Seeing the blue of the sky she felt a glimmer of hope but it lasted only a second. Turning back towards the building she noted the dark clouds inching their way towards the sun. Something Adline didn’t need.

She missed the shadows that were painted against the ground but as she jumped over them she felt the wind knocked out of her as she landed on the pavement. Winded and hurting.

“I said I’d give you a head start.” The voice cackled loudly. “I never said I’d make it easy.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing you little maggot?!” A man’s voice filled Adline’s ears. It wasn’t the shadow man and as she looked up she spied Ambrose walking towards her.

"How fun! Another toy to play with!" Shouted the voice as Ambrose too looked around wildly. He looked terrified as a cloud moved across the path of the sun blocking the light and casting a long, dark shadow over the town.

Adline watched with curiosity and a sense of foreboding as the dark swirl she had seen in the old, damp and mouldy office materialised in front of Ambrose. The man froze in terror as the whirlwind forced itself into Ambrose through his open mouth and up through his nose. The force at which the shadow entered was so great that it lifted Ambrose off of the ground.

As the dark vortex disappeared into the unsuspecting man Adline pulled herself up off of the ground and attempted to escape.

"Where do you think your going pet." Though the shadow now possessed Ambrose’s body his wispy, raspy voice remained. Adline felt as if something wrapped itself around her neck but before it could do damage the sun reappeared from behind the clouds.

The shadow man screamed with what could only be described as pain as he looked at Adline with a deadly sneer. It was then that she saw the glowing blue eyes. He had well and truly taken control of Ambrose which made her fearful for her life. Again.