The trouble with humans
Chapter One: On a night so clear...
It was a bitterly cold October night, it was the kind of cold that your bones felt, a cold that could kill if you weren't prepared for it. The night was dark with only the moon shining down onto the lonely village of Glostbury, there were no clouds and the full moon sent strange shadows spreading out all over the place.
The village of Glostbury was a small, close-knit community situated in the centre of the forest of Knowelle. The population was two hundered and twenty and the villagers survived by rearing their own herds of sheep, cow, goats and pigs and growing their own crops. All of the villagers attended the small church that was situated opposite the village well that was the main supply of water, all of the children attended the Glostbury schoolhouse, the schoolhouse consisted of three rooms - two classrooms and one large hall that was often used as the village hall or meeting place.
On this night. the only light that could be seen in the village was the sole flame coming from the torch hanging on the watch tower where a lone guard stood twenty feet from the floor, watching the surroundings of the village through the dense mist that had begun to settle in.
The only warmth the guard could feel was coming from the flames of his torch, he had stopped blowing on his hands to keep them warm a long time ago as it didn't seem to be working and instead he had resulted to taking rather large gulps of whisky from his hip flask. The foul tasting liquid did indeed take his mind from the coldness, but it also took his mind away from his duties and so he didn't notice as the cloaked figure darted out of the forest that surrounded the village and darted behind the cover of the buildings.
The person seemed to wait behind the shelter of a chicken shed to see if they had been spotted and then, when no reaction came of their entrance to the village, they made their way further into the village, heading for the schoolhouse.
Something strange had been happening in the village of Glostbury for the past week or so, it was why the villagers had decided to set up a watch tower in the first place. They hadn't had one before as they had never felt the need for one, every night they would all settle down for the darkness of the night and everything would be okay, but when the village woke the next day they would discover the schoolhouse covered in what appeared to be symbols of the occult. It greatly worried the god-loving villagers and they had set about keeping watch of their village from high up to catch the culprit in their evil act, but it seemed to no avail as even though the men folk of the village kept watch, they were never able to catch anyone conducting the evil graffiti.
the cloaked figure rushed past the village well and slowed as it reached the white walls of the schoolhouse. The person stopped and looked up at the tower of the church opposite, the bell tower was taller than the watch tower and stood silouhetted against the awesome moon. The villagers were knowledgeable about the latest technology it seemed for the clock tower had a mechanical clock attached to the outside. The figure watched the tower intently, never moving its head from the tower until, that is, the clock hands both reached the XII in the clock face. As soon as they both hit the twelve, the figure pulled a lump of black rock from the pocket of the cloak and began to draw symbols on the pale white walls of the schoolhouse.
Their hands were a blur and never seemed to stop, until the heard the polite cough from behind them and turned to find at least half of the village stood there watching, flaming torches raised about their heads. Stood infront of the crowd was a small group of men and one woman, all of whom stuck out against the villagers like a sore thumb. "Evenin'" a man with a white substance all over his face and dark glasses on his eyes said in an extremely strong cockney accent, "I think you've got some explainin' to do mate" he finished as the group moved forwards. The cloaked figure dropped the lump of coal.
A/N: The Village of Glostbury and the forest of Knowelle are completely fictional.
Just who...or what, is the figure in the cloak? Make sure you read chapter two to find out...
