No Rest for the Seekers(Chapter One)

  Serena woke up in a start. It was the same nightmare again. She'd been having that same nightmare for a year now. She'd been alone for a year now. She looked around at her environment trying to remember where she was. Some abandoned warehouse. She hoped it was abandoned at least. She didn't see anyone when she came here last night, but she learned the hard way that when people get desperate for shelter they'd do anything for it after she watched two men fight to death over some homemade shelter made from scrap wood.

  Serena slowly got up and looked around. Deciding it was safe she headed for the door with all of her earthly possessions: an old green duffel bag with two pairs of jeans, a few tank tops of different colors, a long brown trench coat, and a few pairs of shoes, and a silver, square shaped locket she kept around her neck with a picture of her family in it. She cracked the door a bit, looked left and right making sure the coast was clear, then headed out when she felt safe. Safety was her first priority. She'd seen people kill each other on these streets and most of them grown men. She could only imagine what they could do to a little twelve year old girl like her. She crawled along the walls, and ran through open alley ways as silent as a cat trying to keep from being seen. She'd ran around the corners of buildings until she found the pull-out ladder she'd seen yesterday and made her way up the building.

  Serena went to watching the town. Watching intently for any sign of life or movement, maybe even blood spattering up on a brick wall. There were a few hints of movement, but not much. Most of the people were probably still sleeping. She reached into her duffel bag and pulled out a brown scarf that she wrapped around her neck till it covered her face from nose down. The tank top she was waring was stripped white and orange with little strips of blue here and there. She had on a pair of old cut-off shorts she'd made from an old pair of jeans when it got a little too hot her one day but she decided it was too hot for the coat. The scarf was only to hide her face and anyway. People could do horrible things to you here if they remembered your face. She put on a pair of orange goggles she had hidden in a side pocket of her duffel bag and dived off the building. She grabbed a pole on her way down, did a fancy spin around it and landed cat-like on the ground. She had to grin realizing how good she'd gotten at these fancy acrobatics in only a year.

  Serena stood up and dusted herself off, then went on her way. She was leaving this town today. She didn't understand why she'd have to stay in this town just because it's where she lived before the world went bat-crazy. She thought she might be able to find a better place to stay on the road. Getting out of this town would be the hard part. People were getting so desperate in these parts they'd even kill for a cannibalistic meal, and Serena didn't think they'd discriminate on her just because she was twelve years old.

  Ever since that creature showed up the world seemed to be falling apart at the seams. People would disappear in the night and you never knew if it was the shadow creature, or another human being causing those blood curdling cries for help screamed in the night. You couldn't pay any attention to them or you'd go mad. That's why Serena had to leave. Surely the shadow creature couldn't be in all places of the world at once. She had to leave.

  Serena began to slip through the alley ways again trying not to be seen until she came to the area where she knew she'd have to go out in the open.  It was bright in the day time with no signs of the shadow creature, but still horrid. The streets smelled of death and were lined with dead and dying bodies. Some rotted beyond recognition and no one cared. Even Serena couldn't say anything about that because here she was walking right past a man grabbing at her legs begging for just a bite of bread. Moans filled the air from the sick and dying, but Serena ignored it and kept walking with her head high and staring into the distance as if nothing in this world could stop her. She had to beat the shadow creature. She had to avoid eye contact with other people just until she could get out of the town.

  Serena focused on the rhythm of her feet on the pathway. She walked calmly by a fruit stand and stole three small apples without anyone noticing. The apples themselves were of bad quality but if she let the seeds dry out and she found a nice place to settle she could plant them. She'd learned about gardening from her grandmother and was sure she could grow a fine apple tree.

  "Almost there.." Serena thought to herself seeing the rundown sign that marked the end of town. She grinned, beamed even, and her pace quickened. She was home free, then right before her foot reached the border past the sign some dirty hand grabbed her and forced her down.

  "Well now, what's a pretty young thing like you doing out here all by yourself?" asked the man holding her down. He was ugly with yellow jagged teeth and a long messy gray beard. "You could get yourself hurt out here sweetheart. Where are your parents?" Serena didn't reply, just glared at the ugly old man willing his head to explode so that she could leave. "No talkin' eh?" he got down on his knees, with one digging into Serena's stomach and making her grunt in pain. The ugly old man smiled showing off his disgusting teeth.

  "Leave me alone." demanded Serena.

  "Leave me alone." mocked the old man in a high voice Serena guessed was supposed to sound like her. She glared more intently but said nothing else. Though the word "die" found itself creeping through her mind quite often. The old man laughed at her and started to reach for her. Serena closed her eyes not wanting to see what he was going to do to her. Her father had told her all about predators before the shadow creature took him and she didn't expect to like what was about to happen. There was a gut wrenching grunt and Serena smelled blood and felt something liquid. She opened her eyes and there was a knife penetrating from the old mans gut and blood was everywhere. Someone was holding him up by his head and she glanced around to see who it was. Some boy, probably fourteen with sun bleached blond hair that was probably about two inches long and straight, with light green eyes. He looked dirty and angry. He was looking at Serena and picked the old man up a little higher to let her out from under him. She was too stunned for a minute to do anything but she nodded and then ran. He never said anything to her and she didn't say thanks. She just ran.



  Serena kept running until she was sure she was away from that place and she slowed. For all she knew the world could just begin to dissolve the further she went but, she was gonna try nonetheless. The land was barren. There was no greenery and there were no people or buildings. She was slightly thankful for that, but she just kept walking and stayed vigilant in case of anymore creepy old men or anymore fourteen year old boys with knifes. She'd come to a new town eventually if she just kept going.

  Humming filled Serena's ears and she turned to see a woman sitting against an old dried up tree. Her eyes were wide and fearful and she looked childish the way she was curled up. Serena didn't recognize the song she was humming but it was kind of hypnotizing, though she didn't know if it was the song or the woman herself luring her in. Maybe she's the shadow creature. Maybe he can disguise himself as one of the people he's swallowed into darkness and who's faces haunt his shadow-robe.

  Serena had to shake her head to remember she couldn't just stand there and stare at this woman. No matter how helpless she looked she could be dangerous. Then, as if the woman read Serena's mind, her eyes bobbed up and saw Serena. The woman stopped humming and Serena stopped breathing. There was a long silence. They just looked at each other, then, "Kay." the woman opened her mouth and spoke.

  "Huh?" Serena asked without thinking.

  "Kay. My name is Kay. What's yours?"

  "Serena." she replied carefully. The words "No eye contact." kept repeating itself in her mind, but she just couldn't stop watching this woman.

  "That's a pretty name." said Kay.

  "Thank you."

  Kay nodded. "What are you doing out here Serena? Shouldn't you be in town? Finding shelter?"

  "I left the town. I don't like the fact there are so many people there. It's too dangerous."

  "That's why I left too." smiled Kay. "I'm just too afraid to go off on my own. That shadow creature terrifies me. What if it finds me? I don't want to go in that darkness of his Serena, you see."

  Serena nodded. "You can't just hide from the shadow creature forever. In times like this bravery is kind of required."

  "Oh, I'm not a brave person Serena. I'm surprised I've made it this past year with as little bumps and bruises as I have." said Kay beginning to rock back and forth on her feet.

  Serena paused for a moment. She didn't know rather to trust this woman or not. "I really should be on my way then." she decided to say. "Want to come with me?" the words seemed to fall out of her mouth.

  Kay's eyes widened and she stared intently at Serena. "You mean it Serena? You'd let me come with you? Would you protect me from the shadow creature?" Serena thought this was a silly notion. A twelve year old protecting a full grown woman from monsters. Wasn't this usually the other way around? Oh, well that was before the shadow creature came and the world went insane. Serena nodded and Kay grinned and jumped up from the tree. She was bundled up in some old blanket and she had on an old hat that flopped on her head with all the force she was putting into her movement. "Well then, best be on our way." said Kay.

  Serena took her goggles off since she was out of town and began to walk again with Kay behind her. Kay continued to hum her song only more cheerfully. Serena looked back at her every now and then cautiously, not sure what to make of this strange woman. "How old are you Kay?" she asked.

  "Oh, twenty-seven." said Kay cheerfully. "It's so nice to have company again Serena, you're a very sweet girl for inviting me along."

  "Thank you.' replied Serena.

  "Well, how old are you dear? You know my age but when I told you mine you didn't tell me yours. Just a polite little 'thank you' for calling you sweet. Well, how old are you now?" Serena was starting to see that Kay was going to be one of those talkative, nutcase kind of people that were so abundant around here now-a-days.

  "I'm twelve." said Serena.

  "Twelve? Well my goodness! What's a little twelve year old doing out on the streets all by herself, there are dangerous people out here that wouldn't mind harming a little twelve year old you know." Serena remembered the old man who was lying somewhere dead now, or maybe that boy had eaten him. She shuddered.

  "The shadow creature took my whole family. I don't have a friend in the world. I have no choice but to be alone." Personally Serena thought she was doing perfectly fine on her own too. It seemed so strange to talk to someone after being on her own for so long. A pretty good feeling, even if Kay was a little overly talkative.

  Serena looked up at the sky and noticed it was turning gray and filling with crows. "We need to find shelter." she told Kay. "The shadow creature is coming."

  "Oh no dear." said Kay, "I'm afraid the shadow creature is here." Serena turned around in time to see Kay morph into the red eyed shadow creature. She watched the robe and there again were the faces of her mother, father, cousin, and the rest of her family.

  "I knew it!" screamed Serena, and she began to run. She knew she couldn't outrun the shadow creature. He was like darkness itself and how do you hide from darkness itself? Well, Serena had a pretty good idea if she could just get up a good momentum. Serena kept running and grabbed at her green duffel bag until she found a flashlight she kept hidden in there and she slipped it out. The shadow creature was too focused on her to notice the flashlight until she beamed it directly at him. He screeched a scream that sounded like distressed bats dispersing from a cave and Serena kept running. "Always trust your intuition. Always trust your intuition." Serena said to herself over and over.

  It was still daylight and Serena figured she was far enough now and began to slow down looking behind her and "Oomph!" she impacted on something and fell backward. She held her head and looked up. It was a sign. Just a simple brown sign. "Welcome to Windbridge!" it read. "Windbridge? What an odd name." said Serena to herself. "Well, it's a new town. Let's check it out."

  The place seemed quiet enough. No moaning. No smell of death. It was possibly a bit too quiet. "A ghost town." said Serena. She continued walking through the town and saw no one. "I'll stay here for a little while." she said to herself. "Then I'll find somewhere else," It occurred to Serena that she was talking to herself and she laughed. She must have gotten used to "Kay" to fast. She laid down and drifted off to sleep and didn't notice all the whispers from the alleyway, or the shadows of the hidden figures watching her.