The Shadow Riser

CHAPTER ONE

:Rosis:

Mari sighed and looked at Jowee expectantly. "Oh, what am I going to do?" She asked, throwing her fist into the air. "How am I supposed to be a good mayor if I can't even stop Isaac and chef Cookie from arguing?"

He threw her a sympathetic smile. "Mari, don't worry..." Jowee put his hand on her shoulder. "We've been through worse than this. Think about the adventures you got us through..."

Mari snorted. "I'd rather not... I chose the wrong path to go down, so we ended up being on the opposite side." She looked away. "It's all my fault..."

"Yes, but... That was all Wilfre's fault!" Jowee snapped. "None of what happened was your fault, Mari... Wilfre brainwashed you to be on his side, what he showed you was our world getting destroyed so Mike could wake up... But Wilfre was wrong, our world didn't get destroyed. Otherwise we wouldn't be here now... It was Mike who was sent back home."

She sat on the edge of the Eternal Flame's pedestal. "I know, it's just..." Mari paused. "It's just we've been through so much... Wilfre... Circi... Sometimes I wish the villagers would remember, and would stop fighting. Wilfre is—"

"Who's Wilfre?" A small Rapoboy stood beside Mari, intrigued by their conversation. His purple eyes flicked questioningly behind his chestnut coloured hair. He wore a red wool jumper with green and white zigzag patterns, three huge blue buttons keeping the sleeve attached to the body.

"Rosis, what are you doing here?" Mari asked. "Where's Cricket? He's supposed to be looking after you..."

"Who's Wilfre?" The Rapoboy repeated.

Jowee sighed. "That doesn't matter, Rosis... But what does, is you getting safely home. It's freezing out here, you could catch your death of cold..."

Rosis shook his head sadly. "But I wanna know..." He squeaked and looked up at them with big violet eyes welling up with tears.

Mari huffed. "No, you need to go home now..." She took him gently by the hand and began to walk down the path with him.

Rosis skipped along, looking up occasionally at her. "Please tell me...!" He begged. "I promise I won't tell anyone. Please...!"

Mari stopped and kneeled down next to him. "Rosis, you have to understand. You are better off not knowing who Wilfre is." She picked him up and carried him the rest of the way.

As she and the child came to a low building with a barred window above the door, they stopped. Mari put Rosis on the ground and knocked three times upon the large wooden door.

"Cricket?" Mari called through the keyhole. "Are you in?"

Various locks and chains were clicking and clashing together before the door creaked open, revealing a fair sized police officer with a doughnut in one hand. "Ah, mayor Mari! It's good to see you..."

"Cricket, I thought you agreed to watch Rosis..." Mari gestured to the small boy at her feet. "You know he doesn't have anyone... Not even his parents. No one knows what happened to them."

Cricket sighed and lifted Rosis into his arms. "Hmm... He was playing with Jakob, my son, but it appears the little blighter wandered away unnoticed..."

Rosis pulled on his long animal-like ears with a giggle. "I went to find Mari and Jowee..."

"I see... But you should know better than to run off whenever you want."

He suddenly looked saddened, but lightened again as he remembered something from earlier. "Cricket... Do you know who Wilfre is? Mari won't tell me..."

Cricket frowned and looked at Mari. "Where did he hear this?"

"Uh, he overheard me and Jowee talking..."

"Who's Wilfre?" Rosis ordered and jumped down out of Cricket's grasp.

"Rosis, go inside and play. I need to speak with Mari..."

The little boy growled. "But I don't wanna—"

"—Go inside..." Cricket snapped.

With a sigh, Rosis walked inside of the police station and closed the door behind him. He looked around, seeing how dark and creepy it seemed without the light on. To his right, there was a desk with a stack of paper work and an open box of doughnuts. To his left, a long curling staircase twirled up to the second floor.

Cricket said that Rosis was allowed anywhere in the police station, except upstairs... He wondered what could be up there, could there have been a monster? Or perhaps something scarier... Rosis shuddered at the thought, but knew that he had to find out what was up there. With a quick decision, he walked carefully closer to the staircase, picking up a stick, that stood against the wall,for protection. Just in case something nasty did arise...

"Where are you going, Rosis?" Jakob switched on the light with his right hand and with his left, holding a bag of crisps. "You weren't thinking about going upstairs, were you?" He shuddered.

"Um..." Rosis stuttered and twirled the stick around. "Yes..."

"My Dad says that we're not allowed up there..."

Rosis stared at him. "But what's upstairs...? Is it something horrible...?"

"Oh..." Jakob laughed. "It's just the prisons... I peeked up there once, but my Dad yelled at me..."

"What did you see?" Rosis dropped the stick and listened. "Was it scary...?"

"Yes..." Jakob squeaked.

"Jakob?"

"Ok, it was really scary... There was a few metal cages with Rapos in them... They looked like they'd done something really bad..."

Rosis smiled and tugged on his shirt. "Come on! We could have a little look up there, and if we do get into trouble with a monster or something, we can always throw this stick at them." He showed Jakob the branch.

"Uh, I don't know, Rosis..." He cried in a weak scared voice. "What if something happens...?"

"Nothing will happen. Trust me..." Rosis took his first step onto the staircase.

"Ok..." He followed wearily, glancing into the looming darkness ahead.

The two young Raposa gripped tight on each others sleeves with one hand, clenching their tiny furry hands in case something leapt out at them. Rosis swallowed hard as he reached the second floor. There was a lamp switched on at a dusty desk that stood at the centre of the room. Jail cells surrounded them, but every one was empty...

"I though you said the cages had Rapos in them?" Rosis ran his hand along the bars, creating a dull metallic sound.

"I guess they don't anymore..."

"What do you think happened to them?" Rosis whispered. "Do you think they... Escaped...?"

"I dunno..." Jakob lifted a few sheets of paper from the desk. Files were written on every prisoner and had been laid out neatly.

Rosis wandered to the back of the room, to where a large cell was. "Hey, Jakob... This cell looks like it's being used. There's a bed in the corner, the sheets are all messy... And there's a bowl of food on a tiny little table next to it..."

Jakob creeped over and peered through the bars, examining the mass of objects. "Maybe the Rapo that was in it before has gone..."

"Hmm..." Rosis turned around, Jakob following him.

The two of them looked into the cobweb filled rafters, staring inquisitively at every peculiar corner. Jakob picked up a sheet of paper that was on the floor and tried to make out what it said on it. Unable to understand, he shrugged and folded it to make a paper aeroplane. He and Rosis tossed it across the room happily, throwing it with a yelp of excitement.

"Young Rapos are nothing but trouble..." Whispered a voice from the cage behind them.

The Rapoboys screamed and leapt back, seeing a dark figure perched in the shadows. The figure's voice was soft and feminine, but with an evil tinge to it.