Left Behind

Chapter One

Disclaimer: The Dark is Rising Sequence and all its characters belong to Susan Cooper, and I would never take credit for her wonderful work. This plot does belong to me, though.

Will strolled down the road, his hands in his pockets. It was an ordinary day in December; cold and dreary, the snow nothing but gray slush.  The bare trees stood out against the gray sky, and everything seemed devoid of color. All was quiet; no one seemed to be outside.

Will wouldn't have been outside, either, except that he had decided to escape the inevitable chaos that reigned in the Stanton household. 

It wasn't really anything; normally being around a lot of people was comforting, but not today. And well, he just wished it would snow properly.

He knew he wasn't a ten year-old anymore; he was fourteen, and an Old One, and he was aware of the fact that he was getting old for this.

But he couldn't help just feeling that way. Oh well, he had an eternity to grow up anyway.

Just then a shout broke the silence and he looked up sharply.

 "Give it back!" he heard someone yell.

"You'll have to come and get it," another voice taunted.

Will turned round the corner and saw Richie Moore laughing and dangling a book in the air, while a girl stood on tiptoe, trying to grab it from his hand.

It looked like Richie had found a new target, aside from Manny Singh.

Will's blood boiled. Ordinarily Richie had the decency not to pick on girls, but apparently he'd decided dark-skinned ones were an exception.

The girl jumped after the book, then slipped on the ice-coated pavement and fell. Richie roared in laughter.

Will decided right then and there that it was time to intervene and hurried forward.

"Richie!" he called angrily.

The boy looked up, then sneered at him. "Hello, Will."

Before Will could say anything, the girl, glaring up at Richie, thrust her leg up and kicked the bully between his legs.  Richie gasped in pain, and dropped the book.

The girl caught the book and scrambled to her feet. Hurling Richie a withering look over her shoulder, she bolted down the street.

Too late Will realized that he was in the way, and they both went crashing to the ground.

Slowly they both sat up, groaning.

"That's it," the girl said under her breath. "I hate snow."
Will looked up and saw that Richie had recovered, and was rushing towards the girl.

Quickly he got to his feet, blocking Richie.

"Out of the way, Stanton," Richie snarled.

Just then, a car rolled by, and slowed to a stop beside them.

"Everything all right, boys?" the window rolled down to reveal their teacher, Mr. Dawkins.

"Yes, sir," Richie replied sullenly.

"Good, good," Mr. Dawkins said cheerfully. "Ah, hello Anika."

"Good afternoon, sir," the girl replied, standing up.

"I see you've met my students."

"Um, not really, we just bumped into each other," Anika said, glancing at Will and then Richie.

"Well then, Anika, this is Will Stanton, and Richie Moore. They'll be your classmates when you join us after Christmas break. Richie, Will, this is Anika Santiago. She's a new student and comes from the Philippines."

"Hello," said Will, shaking Anika's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Hi," Anika replied, grinning.

"Speaking of which, Anika, haven't you got a birthday coming soon?"

"It's today, sir!" Anika said cheerfully.

"Oh, my apologies! Happy birthday, then. Say, Will, isn't your birthday the day after tomorrow?"

"Er, yes it is," Will replied.

"What a coincidence!" Mr. Dawkins exclaimed.

"I should be getting home," Richie said gruffly. "Almost teatime."

"Do you need a ride? It's getting rather dark out," said Mr. Dawkins.

"No thank you," Richie replied. "My house is only a block away anyway."

With that, he disappeared round the corner.

Mr. Dawkins nodded at Will and Anika. "What about you?"

"No thank you," Will said respectfully.

Anika smiled and shook her head.

"All right then," and Mr. Dawkins drove on.

"Sorry," Anika said to Will.

"What for?"

"For bumping into you like that. And thanks for, um, defending me. That was really nice of you."

"Er, you're welcome," Will replied awkwardly. "And happy birthday."

"Thanks. Advanced happy birthday to you."

 "Well, uh, Richie was right, it is almost teatime, and I should be going too," Will said.

"Oh, okay. See you when school starts," Anika said cheerfully.

Will turned white and stared at her, but by this time she was jogging off.

Did he hear her wrong, or did she just say that in the Old Speech?

He stood there for a few more seconds, baffled. Then he shook his head. In any case, she was gone. He would just have to look for her again sometime.

So much for an ordinary winter day.

* * *

Anika sighed as she jogged towards her house.

So much for a happy birthday. Coming face to face with some jerk. Still, apart from that the day had been all right. But what was a birthday when you were miles apart from your friends and family? Except, of course, for your eldest sister.

"Hi, Ate!" she said cheerfully as she entered the door.

"Take off your boots," Katherine said automatically.

Anika obediently took them off, and hung her coat before coming in. "Wow, that smells good," she said. "Lasagna, I love lasagna!"

They both fell silent for a moment. Each knew what the other was thinking of. Their mother. Mrs. Santiago didn't cook, they'd had a maid for that, but the few things she could cook, meat loaf, lasagna, and pasta, were always delicious.

But that was before she'd disappeared. No one knew what had happened. It was just as if one day, Mr. and Mrs. Santiago ceased to exist, leaving behind their children. That was two years ago, when Anika was twelve and Katherine twenty two. And their siblings, Kristin and Michael, had been twenty and nineteen.

And now, Katherine had decided she needed to get away somewhere. And somewhere happened to be Buckinghamshire. But Kristin was in the middle of medical school, and Michael, an NGO worker, helping improve the health services in Batanes.

So they agreed that Katherine and Anika would go ahead and settle in England, and maybe in a few years Kristin and Michael would follow.

But none of that would have happened, Anika thought bitterly, if their parents hadn't suddenly gone without a trace. It was something that baffled everyone. They had no enemies, and there were no reports of any kidnappings, or of any dead bodies found, or anything. The police had no idea where to start.

None of the Santiago children had really completely healed since then, and they rarely dared to talk about it.

Anika shook her head. No use thinking about that. Besides, she ought to be or at least act happy, after all, it was her birthday.

But wasn't that kind of selfish? a little voice in her head asked.

No, I don't think so, Anika replied to it. I don't think Mom and Dad would want me to be depressed on my birthday, either. It's not like I'm forgetting them or anything.

"Anything I can do?" she asked brightly.

Katherine smiled. "You can set the table."

* * *

It was Christmas Eve. The Christmas lights were turned on, all the presents were wrapped, and Will sat on the rug before the fire, thinking.

Over the past few days he had not had a chance to look for Anika, what with all the Christmas preparations. But she was always on his mind, and he was itching to find out why she was here and who she really was, and how she had known the Old Speech.

And he wished, oh he wished, that Merriman were there to guide him. Surely Merriman would know about her, surely he would know what to do. But he wasn't here. Will was alone now, and he would have to do this himself.

Merriman, where are you when I need you? he cried out silently.

"Well, who's going on the trek this year?"

Will jumped slightly, then realized it was his father, asking who would join in the Christmas caroling.

"Me and Will, of course," said James. "And Paul."

"Come on, Robin," said Paul. "It shan't be the same without you."

"I didn't even say anything yet," Robin protested.

"I take that as a yes."

"I'm going this time," said Gwen.

"I'll go, too," said Barbara.

"So will I," Mary added.

"I was thinking," said Mrs. Stanton, coming in from the kitchen, "that you might pay a visit to the Santiagos, too, and give them a proper welcome. After all, they must be a bit lonely, it being just the two of them, and so far away from home."

"All right," said Mr. Stanton.

Will grinned. He needn't have worried; the opportunity would come at the right time.

"Be back by nine-thirty," said Mrs. Stanton.

They trudged through the snow, going from house to house, singing all the usual carols. Then last of all, on the way home, they stopped by the Santiagos'.

Katherine and Anika opened the door, the happy astonishment evident on their faces.

"Wow, do you do this every Christmas?" Katherine asked when they had finished.

"Yes, don't you?" said James.

"Nope," Anika answered. "It's not really a tradition in the Philippines. That's where we come from. Hello, Will."

"Hi," Will replied.

"You know each other already?" said Mr. Stanton.

"We bumped into each other a few days ago," said Anika. "Literally."

"Would you like to come in?" Katherine asked politely. "I'm Katherine Santiago, and this is my sister, Anika."

"I'm Mr. Stanton," Will's father said. "This is Barbara, Gwen, Robin, Paul, Mary, James, and Will. We live at the old vicarage."

"And yes thank you, I think we could stay for just a minute," Will added quickly.

Soon everyone was seated around the living room, making polite, boring grown-up conversation.

Will sat beside Anika and said, "Did you have a nice birthday?"

"It was all right," Anika replied. "And you?"

"Same here. Anika," he said suddenly, "Who are you, really?"

"What?" Anika gave him a puzzled look. "I told you already, I'm Anika Santiago."

Will gazed at her, trying to read her mind and see if she was lying. Or if she would put up a wall of resistance.

Surprisingly, he had no difficulty at all entering her thoughts, and found her wondering if something was not wrong with Will Stanton. Even more baffling, he sensed something about her that was of the Dark, but not completely, and something too, that was somewhat of the Light.

But it was not the same thing he had sensed with Bran, who was not of the Dark or the Light, but of the High Magic.

This girl was like a mixture of everything…but how was that possible? And besides, it seemed that she wasn't aware of it at all.

"By the way," he found himself asking, "the day before your birthday, did anything strange happen?"

"No, not really."

"Did the TV screen get all fuzzy, or did the radio make strange sounds when you passed by?"

"Now that you mention it," Anika said, staring at him, "we thought the TV was broken, but it worked the next day. How did you know?"

"Oh, nothing," Will answered. "The reception on our television was pretty bad, too. Must have been something with the channel."

Soon the Stantons were off on their way home again. Will was quiet the whole time; it seemed his little visit had left him with more questions than answers.

A/N: 'Ate' is what Filipinos call their eldest sisters, and it's pronounced 'Ah-teh'. Batanes is a small group of islands at the northernmost tip of the Philippines, which in case you don't know, is a small archipelago in Southeast Asia. And also in case you don't know, NGO stands for Non-Governent Organization. Please oh please oh please review, this is my very first The Dark is Rising fanfic! Besides, I have the feeling there's something wrong with the flow of the story, but I'm not sure what it is.