Shadow's Edge

[Leviathandances]

Her feet feel heavy as she pads her way down the cold weather worn steps of the cathedral. She has no idea what brought her too those steps; she just knows she's needed there. When she reached the top she met a young priest and some rugged looking man. The priest stepped forward and extended his hand. "Welcome my child, we have been expecting you."


She stares at the priest but doesn't take his hand. A shadow creeps past the corner of her eye; close to where the other man stood. Her gaze flicked toward him before they widen in sock. What once was a man is now a nightmarish creature with glowing green eyes, and a shadow where the rest of his body should have been.


He changed, but how is that possible? She returns her gaze to the priest who seemed completely unaware of the horror that was unfolding behind him. The shadow moved closer, and closer, she tried to run, to scream, but she couldn't. She even tried to warn the priest… nothing. She watched as the priest was taken by the monster. A light glow surrounded him for a moment as his soul was ripped free. He made no sound as he was being devoured; he just kept staring at her, the look of terror and surprise apparent in his eyes. Those eyes seeped into her soul, she felt as if they were crying out to her, blaming for not acting fast enough to save him from this fate.


Once the priest was gone there was nothing between it and her. The shadow loomed ever closer, hunger glowing greedily in her direction. She backed up slowly taking care not to slip, if she did she would certainly fall to her death. The creature moved toward her, its green eyes pierced her heart leaving a cold dead feeling. She was halfway down the steps when the creature smiled and vanished.


She woke with a start in her room taking deep breaths to calm herself. It took her a while to notice where she was. That was the weirdest dream I've ever had in my life. Sighing she flopped back down on her pillow one arm draped over her forehead. I need to stop drinking coffee before bed. Staring up at the support beams above her bed she thought. I wonder what it all meant.

 

[GreenLady]

A light knock came on his bedroom door as he once again woke from the reoccuring nightmare drenched in sweat. "Nathanial?" The worried voice did not match the pounding on the door. "Hey! Get up!"

He groaned, wrinkling his nose at the door. "Yeah yeah I'm up." He fussed at his dorm mate, annoyed and fumbling for clean clothes. Any clean clothes would do at this point.

 

[Leviathandances]

"Jessamine, Jessamine you need to wake up. The cows won't milk themselves and you have more chores to do before you head into town." Jessamine's aunt yelled from down the stairs.


Jessamine turned her gaze to the door; green eyes with flex of silver rolling in her skull as she slowly sat up. Living in the country wasn't so bad and it wasn't like they were that far from town. She could walk it if she wanted to and she did so most days of her life. Stretching she go out of bed and dressed. Brushing out her long wavy brown hair she bundled it up in a loose pony tail and smiled to herself before getting to work.


Shadows danced along the walls, green eyes gazing at people passing buy none of them tickling it's fancy. They were all too…ordinary…too dull. It wanted fresher meat something it could really sink its teeth into…he knew he was bound to find it soon.

 

[GreenLady]

"Freshman orientation starts in ten!" His dorm mates voice was stressed.

Nathanial rolled his eyes, finally finding his clean clothes and changing. "Get goin then!" He fussed, rushing out of his room and towards the bathroom. "I wouldn't want you to leave your girlfriend waiting." He stuck his tongue out at Adam as the other man blushed.

It took him a few seconds to brush his teeth and hair.

 

[Leviathandances]

The time it took for her to gather all her things and head out the door after her chores were finished surprised her. Normally it would take longer but she didn't want to be late. There were a lot of things to do before the day was done and actually making it on time to classes would probably make her professors like her. Orientation was going to start soon and she had to get going.



Grabbing her messenger bag full of books she checked herself in the mirror on the hallway wall one more time. Normally she wasn't the type to take the time to prep herself but on this day she thought a little extra was needed. There was no makeup on her oval face, nor was her hair done up on something elaborate or difficult. She only added her mother's hair pin to her slightly dampened, shower washed, hair. It was a longish silver rod, with a dangley rose at the end, that she managed to wrap her hair around to make it into a bun; her aunt found it complicated but she just did it naturally. The rest of her clothes were…normal. Nice looking blouse, pair of jeans and black Converse shoes.



Her uncle was waiting for her in his old red truck. She slipped in the seat and relaxed as he drove her to school. Being a first year wasn't going to be all that difficult. Her aunt and uncle told her about it and she found she felt lucky to live so close to where she'd be going. The campus had told her she needed to live in the dorms but she hadn't done something correctly and she was currently working on that little problem.



As she watched the scenery around her go by; she couldn't help but wonder about that dream again. Was it real? She shook her head and laughed silently to herself warranting a strange look from her uncle. She waved him off and said it was nothing. Despite her feelings of it not being possible something just didn't click right with her about it.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial raced towards the auditorium after having rushed out of his dorm. He bumped into a girl climbing out of a red truck as he looked back to secure his backpack. "Ooh, sorry!" He called out behind him as he continued to race onwards. He flashed a grin behind him and slid under a table being carried.

Jumping over benches and railings was no big deal for him. His only focus was on getting to freshman orientation on time.

 

[Leviathandances]

"Hey." Jessamine said nearly falling over when a young man rushed by her. She used the truck to keep her balance and rolled her eyes at the other's comment. She took a moment to brush herself off before heading in the same direction as the guy who'd bumped her. Checking her back she let out a sigh of relief thankful she hadn't dropped anything. Orientation was going to start soon and she had to get going herself or she was going to be late. Before she completely left her uncle she waved and thanked him for the ride. She wasn't much on sentimentality toward her aunt and uncle. Sure she loved them but…it wasn't the same.



There were a lot of people there and she grumbled as she made her way to her designated spot. Lucky for her things hadn't started yet and it looked as if there were still a few more empty seats. She looked around then down at the map in her hands. If she hadn't taken that out of her bag and followed it she never would have found the right building. Slowly the others filed in and her gaze fell upon the same guy who'd bumped into her. He was two rows ahead of her and she let out a long sigh switching her gaze somewhere else. She was not going to let him get to her, this wasn't high school anymore.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial sat down, not bothering to pull out any of his notebooks. He sat comfortably in the front row, trying to keep his thoughts in check. He was grumbling about being at student orientation instead of going straight to classes. If he wasn't careful, he would overdue it and be too high strung.

Glancing back, examining the room, he noticed the girl he had bumped into. He smiled, waving while hoping to establish some sort of peace. When he focused, he was single-minded.

 

[Leviathandances]

Her eyes caught movement and she couldn't help but smile. Alright so the waving and the look on his face did set her at ease; a little. He didn't seem all bad and she shouldn't rush to conclusions or judge people so quickly. She should know better but she was very, very nervous. To calm herself she took a deep breath and leaned back a little in her seat so she wasn't so straight backed. Getting comfortable, as comfortable as one could get on those stupid seats, she waited for orientation to begin.


First a talking head welcomed them all there and told them of the importance of an education and what they would expect out of this year, or rather what they should get out of their time there. After he was finished the lights dimmed and a large screen came down. A short video started basically repeating what was just said only better and more entertaining. It was not what her attention was holding onto.


Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move. At first she thought it was someone adjusting in their seats and she'd let it slide but then it moved again. The darkness made it difficult to see but there was some form, some shape to it but otherwise there was nothing. In a way it reminded her of smoke…or that dream. Pushing the thought from her mind she turned her attention back to the movie her eyes flicking toward whatever movement she saw her body otherwise still. It moved quietly and quickly to the corner of the room where she ceased to see it anymore.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial found it impossible to focus on orientation. The flickering lights of the tv made it impossible to see anything but the shadows in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes, frustrated at all the shadowss moving about.

He blamed it on the lack of sleep.

Nathanial dug around in his backpack until he found his glasses. He was angry when he noticed they were broken. His frown deepened and he slammed his head onto the desk top in frustration.

 

[Leviathandances]

When the movie was over she felt a certain sense of relief. It had to have been her imagination but she just couldn't shake the feeling of something off about those shadows. Her gaze wondered to that guy again and she couldn't help but wonder if he was asleep or not with his head on the desk top. A few of the people around him had jumped but otherwise people just ignored him.



When it was all over she let out a sigh of relief and gathered her things following the other students out. Her first class was American Lit.; one of those stupid generals she had to take for her major. Without really thinking about it she had wondered close to where she had seen the shadow go before, or where she thought she had seen the shadow go. There was almost like a static shock that made her jump and bump into someone. "Sorry." She said as she turned around her mouth dropping.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial had gotten up from his seat as soon as the movie was over. He wandered over to the corner where he had seen the shadows, rubbing his eyes and worrying that he was going crazy. He opened them, surprised to see the young lady from this morning in the corner.

There was a spark of something that looked like light and she jumped back into his arms. He smiled at her apology and chuckled. "Eh...I suppose I deserved that after this morning." He peered into the corner behind him, shuffling his feet anxiously.

 

[Leviathandances]

"No, it's alright really." She said moving away feeling very embarrassed. Her eyes turned toward the corner for a moment when she muttered. "I just thought I saw." Realizing she probably sounded crazy she added. "It's nothing. I'm Jessamine by the way." She smiled politely but she still had an uneasy feeling so she moved away from the corner. She opened her mouth to say something else but quickly shut it. This was not her area of expertise at all and she had no idea what she was supposed to do in situations like this…normally she kept to herself.



"I'm heading this way," She pointed down the hall to her left. "I have to take American Lit apparently." She said not sure if that was alright or not.



Deep in the shadows something watched the two communicate. It didn't make its move yet; just observed to see what was going to happen. They looked tasty, a lot of those who were in the room looked tasty. It would feed well here; it could tell right away this was the place to feed. All it had to do was bide its time. They would come to it.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial smiled, nodding at the woman for a moment. "I'm Nathanial..." he glared at the corner before turning his attention to Jessamine. "Ah,American Lit? I'm headed there as well..." he turrned, moving towards the door.

He felt creeped out, like eyes were watching him. Looking back, he saw nothing and yet the feeling remained.

 

[Leviathandances]

"Nice to meet you." She said a little surprised he had the same class as her. Who would have thought it? "I don't think it's going to be long since it is only the first day but I had heard rumors about the professor loving to lecture. We might be in there awhile." She said as she followed after him the hair standing on the back of her neck. She saw him look back and she frowned slightly before shaking the thought away. If she wasn't mistaken he had the same look about him that she felt.



"I don't know about you but I think I might hide in back on this one." She said when she spotted the room they were supposed to have class in. On the door there was a sign and she couldn't help but shake her head. They were in the wrong spot. The class had been moved to the third floor. She figured that since there were a lot of other people heading their direction that they didn't know about the change either. She grumbled something but turned toward the door to the stairs which were just a few doors down.



She stopped when she saw this blackish thing encircling a young girl. She didn't know who that girl was but from what she could tell it was doing the exact same thing she saw in her dream. The girl's friends were asking her what was wrong, if she was alright but Jessamine could tell she wasn't. It couldn't be real. A notebook was clutched tightly in her hand but that slowly fell to the ground as she saw the same light glow that had surrounded that other man in her dream. Could no one else see it? Was it only her? Was she really seeing this? She felt her knees shake as a set of glowing green eyes turned toward her and Nathaniel.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial followed Jessamine quietly, still feeling like he was being watched. He noticed the same sign and followed her, remaining silent. When she went silent as well, he looked over at her. "What's wrong?" He felt more eyes on him and looked around. A flash of something dark caught his attention and he stepped in front of Jessamine.

He saw the girls circling a female that had fallen over and Nathanial gasped. "Is she okay?" He was thankful for the first aid training he had taken and considered rushing towards her. That was until he noticed the dark shadow looking at him. He swallowed hard, trying to keep from taking a step back.

 

[Leviathandances]

"It's the same…it's just the same." Jessamine muttered under her breath. Nathanial was close enough he could hear it but she wasn't sure if anyone else had. That girls soul was gone, she was dead and no one could stop it. That shadow that had encapsulated her slowly moved toward the two of them but stopped. The green eyes tilted and shown a little brighter before heading toward the stairwell; disappearing completely into the shadows.



Her heart was pounding in her chest and her eyes were wide. The others around her had gotten closer to see what was going on. A professor had come out of their room and was ordering the students to back up. An ambulance had been called but it wouldn't do any good. She was shaking her hand reaching toward Nathanial; trembling fingers lightly grasping his arm. "You saw it too?" She asked her voice low still in shock over what happened. It couldn't be real, it just…couldn't be real.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial tensed when the shadow simply floated past the pair. He jumped when Jessamine grabbed his arm and he started to shake. His face had gone pale and he nodded slowly before instinctively reacting. "Step back!" He rushed towards the young girl, checking her pulse. He knew it was futile, but he still had to try. His brain was refusing to accept the fact that the young woman had died. He pushed away the students near the girl and then began to perform CPR.

He began to panic when the young lady did not breath on her own, but continued to try to save her until the paramedics pushed him aside.

 

[Leviathandances]

She watched him go knowing there were others around she said nothing else. They hadn't seen it, of that she was sure of otherwise they would have reacted the same way she and Nathanial had. It amazed her how he had run in there and tried to save that girl despite the fact she knew the outcome would be in vain. When he was pushed aside she walked up to him and grabbed his hand leading him somewhere else.



Others had gathered around the area and were gawking at the scene before them. She couldn't stand that. In all honesty she didn't know where she was going, she just had a feeling they had to get out of the building; get away from the darkness and into the sunlight.

 

[GreenLady]

Nathanial felt himself grabbed by the hand and he blindly stumbled after the person attached to it. He had been unable to do anything...unable to save the girl. He had known that, yes...he had known that deep down in his heart. For some reason, he had still tried. He looked up, shock and confusion rippling through him until he noticed that Jessamine was the one dragging him. "Stop." He pulled her to a stop, eyes wide. "Stop." They were now outside, in the sunlight and he was feeling like the world was crumbling around him.

His body started to shake and he could feel the shock wearing off. He could feel the rescue mindset that had been prominent just a few moments ago dissipate. Now, there was only the realization he had watched someone's soul get ripped out of their body.