Page 2 of The Rising Dark
A sigh sounded behind them.The woman whirled around, the coat dropping into a heap on the ground, a blade suddenly in her hand.Where had that come from?How could she have missed it before?Had she been hiding it underneath her clothes somehow?Michelle felt panic rising, with anger closely behind.Whatever the hell this was, she didn’t want any part of it.
A strange silence surrounded them.The woman stood in a pose that should be ridiculous, the blade in front of her, poised to strike.But there was a strength in the lines of her body, a natural grace that made the pose seem second nature.Only now did Michelle notice the breadth of her shoulders, the woman’s powerful build.It wasn’t the ostentatious muscularity of a bodybuilder, but the kind of understated strength of an athlete.
The woman seemed ready for some kind of danger, but Michelle couldn’t see anything.No scary people skulking behind lampposts or in the shadows around them.She started to back away from the woman, inching towards the front door of her building.It was only thirty paces away or so; if she broke into a run now, she would be inside within seconds…
“Stay behind me,” the woman hissed.“Don’t draw its attention.”
Michelle was about to give the woman a piece of her mind, but the words fled as something rose in front of them.Her mouth dropped open, her body frozen painfully still.For a moment, her mind was unable to parse what it was seeing.This was certainly no drug dealer, no mugger.
Whatever this was, there was absolutely no way that it was human.
For one thing, it seemed to be made of smoke.Michelle could still see the outline of the houses on the other side of the street through the creature as it shambled towards them across the asphalt.It didn’t have a body, exactly, although it did have the rough shape of four limbs.It had no facial features, the shape of its head just an emptiness of shadow.As it came closer, its eyes opened, two gleaming orbs of fire which were somehow even more uncanny than the lack of features had been.Michelle’s feet were rooted to the ground as the woman turned into a whirlwind of action.She dashed towards the shadow, lunging forwards, blade outstretched.The shadow dodged the strike and continued its path forward, advancing towards Michelle.The woman stepped aside and struck again.This time, the strike hit—bright flames sizzled on the surface of the blade where it passed through the shadow creature.There was a loud hiss, and Michelle couldn’t tell whether it came from the creature or the blade itself.
This strike drew its attention.The creature turned onto the woman, and the two locked into a battle that moved faster than Michelle could follow.A strange black liquid oozed out of the shadow creature, splashing the ground and the woman’s hands, slicking the blade.The shade slashed at the woman’s head, causing her to duck and roll out of the way.Immediately, the shade surged forward towards Michelle.
It all happened so quickly, she had no time to react, to duck, to run, before it filled her vision.It reached, a tendril of its uncanny shadowy body licking against her cheek.Agony exploded across her face, and for a moment the pain was so intense she only saw a blinding white light.It was only when the searing pain subsided the tiniest amount that she was able to focus on what was happening.She was on the ground—how did she get here?Did she fall?A loud grunt nearby revealed the woman, still locked in close combat with the shade.
The shade tore at her, somehow leaving bright red scratches on the skin of her arms, as if the shadows of its body hid claws.Though the creature was fast, the woman was faster, slashing, stabbing, relentlessly pressing forwards, moving the shade away from Michelle, shielding her.Then, with one last lunge, she lanced through the shade in the middle of its body, flames combusting it from the inside out, until it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The woman’s blade dropped beside her, her shoulders rising and falling with fast breaths.
“What the actual hell was that?”Michelle said, her voice shrill, echoing down the empty street.
The woman turned around.From Michelle’s position on the ground, she seemed larger than life.The light of the streetlamp fell dramatically across her face, revealing the black splatter of what Michelle assumed was the creature’s blood.The woman smiled wryly, wiping her blade on her black jeans.“Hell is about right.”
Chapter Two
“Seriously,” Michelle said as the woman walked towards her.“That…that thing…”
The woman held out a hand to help Michelle off the ground.Michelle grabbed it, feeling the dampness of the creature’s blood on the woman’s skin, and was heaved back onto her feet without any apparent effort.
“Let’s get you home,” the woman said, clearly determined not to answer or explain anything.She picked up the blood-stained coat where she’d dropped it earlier.
Michelle let herself be led to the door of the apartment building.She mechanically took her keys from her shoulder bag, moving through the motions she had repeated hundreds of times, their familiarity now feeling fragile.The woman followed her inside.She walked behind her on the staircase and through the corridor up to her front door.Michelle’s hand shook as she put the key into the lock.The familiar sight of her apartment, of all of her things, of the life she had lived contentedly over the last couple of years, no longer felt as steady a foundation as they had before.She walked in and turned on the light, not surprised when the woman followed and closed the door behind her.
Michelle dropped her bag onto the ground and turned towards the woman, crossing her arms to hide the shake of her hands.“So?”
The woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair.Some of it had come loose from its ponytail, framing her face.“Do you have a first aid kit?”
Without a word, Michelle walked to the kitchen cupboard, her knees unsteady.“It’s…it’s…” Pain radiated across her face, causing her eyes to water.Black spots danced in her vision.
“Please sit down.”The woman led her to a chair and slowly lowered her into it.The tap hissed for a moment as she washed her hands of the grime that covered them.Then, she was back with the first aid kit.Without any hesitation, she unwrapped some sterile gauze and started dabbing some disinfectant onto Michelle’s face.In the bright light of the kitchen, Michelle got her first proper look at her.
Her long, straight hair shone golden except where the creature’s blood had darkened it.Her eyes were green, her long eyelashes giving a softness to her face.She didn’t wear any make-up, not even to cover the silvery scar running through one of her eyebrows, down across her temple, disappearing in her hairline.Michelle wondered what it would be like to trace that line with her fingertips.The woman was incredibly beautiful, like an Amazon from Greek myth.She looked like a woman who could face anything.
Her touch was unexpectedly gentle, her hand cupping Michelle’s chin soft and warm.Despite the searing pain of the disinfectant on the wound, she found herself leaning into the touch, finding a moment of solace in the contact with another solid, human being.It didn’t hurt that she was also gorgeous.
“I’m sorry it got to you,” the woman murmured, carefully wiping Michelle’s cheekbone.Intent on her work, the woman’s face was so close.Michelle could see every individual eyelash, the dewiness of her mouth.Up close, she looked almost vulnerable, a sharp contrast to the fierce woman who had expertly wielded a knife only moments ago.Michelle closed her eyes, using the pain as an excuse.Now was not the time to swoon at the potentially dangerous woman standing in her kitchen.She blamed the lack of any romantic action in her life.It had been too long.
Closing her eyes, however, brought back images of the horrible creature.She saw it coming at her again and again, its strangely shaped limbs outstretched.
She opened her eyes.“What was that thing?”she finally asked.Her voice came out almost as a whisper.It was a question that held immense weight.What she was actually asking was not only what that creature had been, but also who this woman was and what role she played in all of it.Michelle couldn’t grasp how her safe, almost boring life had turned into this: being attacked on the street in the middle of the night by…whatever that was.
She didn’t expect a reply.The woman continued to clean the scratch on her cheek.Michelle was surprised when she started to speak.She almost sounded apologetic.
“You were right before.I think people, without realising, instinctively know one when they see it.It was a demon.”
“A demon,” Michelle repeated.She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry.
