Welcome to my new fic, this is only a prologue, so please feel free to leave me any feedback you wish, if you want to know more, and what me to continue, please do tell me! Thanks a bunch!
Encroaching Darkness, Fading Light
Chapter one - The Prologue
The night was creeping slowly towards the evening sky, heralded by the clawing darkness reaching up from the horizon and pulling imaginary ropes attached to the dying sun, slowly pulling it down towards the edge, into the abyss.
The sky was dark and angry, covering the streaks and tinges of orange, red, yellow and purple that would usually be visible at sun set, the clouds seemed angered by their losing battle with the night, their grip on the sun slowly failing, as it inched closer and closer.
The clouds threatened to open and let forth their wrath, but like an undisciplined child, the darkness continued to strain and pull, tempting fate.
Carla couldn't remove her eyes from the sky, its bleak nature spoke volumes, and she almost felt as if she were in the same position, looking in a mirror to see the turmoil within herself. She shifted her shoulders, re-positioning the dead weight of her few essentials to a more comfortable position on her back. Letting a sigh escape her lips, she glanced behind her, for the last time, while she still stood within the barrier, before beginning her decent down the opposite side of the hill, towards the outside world, and towards freedom.
Within her few steps the will of the clouds suddenly cracked, and they unleashed their fury in roaring thunder and beating rain, almost drenching her instantly with the amount and force of the downpour.
Suddenly Carla heard hurried foot steps behind her, running towards her position.
"LA!" Carla froze at the voice, wondering whether to remain here or to bolt.
"LARA!" came the voice again, this time closer, and more urgent, she knew he was only just a few steps away from seeing over the peak of the hill. She still had a few seconds to run, to hide.
"LARA! WAIT!" Clive threw himself over the peek, and began to slide down the sodden ground of the other side, stopping a few steps from Carla, panting heavily.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING LARA?!" He had to yell over the sound of the pounding rain. "COME BACK WITH ME, IF THE ELDERS FIND YOU HAVE GONE MISSING, STRAIGHT AFTER THE CEREMONY, YOU KNOW THEY WILL COME LOOKING FOR YOU!"
Carla stood completely still, her head bowed against the strong winds and his accusing eyes. She remained silent, though she had lots to say, she knew none of it would make him realize how she felt.
"COME WITH ME LA, LET'S GET BACK TO THE TOWN, AND GET BACK TO THE HOUSE, NO-ONE WOULD HAVE TRIED TO VISIT IN THIS WEATHER, AND SO CLOSE TO LOCK DOWN, PLEASE, COME BACK WITH ME. NO-ONE WILL EVER KNOW THAT YOU TRIED TO LEAVE!" Clive was slowly sinking into the mud, as the ground became more and more water logged by the second.
Carla simply shook her head, taking an unsteady step back.
"YOU GO BACK, I HAVE TO DO THIS, THERE IS NO CHANGING MY MIND!" The deluge didn't let up for a moment, lightening shot across the sky, as the sun finally disappeared below the horizon. The first shots being fired in the war between light and dark.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!"
"GOODBYE, CLIVE!" Carla turned away from him.
"LALA, PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE!" Clive reached out, about to catch her shoulder. Carla turned her head to the side, so he could hear her.
"IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU'LL LET ME GO, AND TELL NO-ONE WHERE I HAVE GONE!" Clive stood absolutely still, his hand hovering in the air. Rain drops landed explosively on his arm, before tracing a hasty path around the hairs, to the bottom, before dripping off onto the ground.
Carla's soft amber hair was sodden and clinging to her face and neck, she began to walk away from him, not looking back. Clive stood completely still, as if paralyzed by her words.
A rush of wind blew past her, as if removing all the air from her body, making her limbs weak and her head spin, informing her she was leaving the barrier. She took a deep breath of air, this was pure air, the air of the free, unshackled people.
Taking a few moments to breathe in the fresh breeze, as the energy came back into her limbs, and her head cleared, she took her first look at the outside world. The world she had been told was a desolate, unending wasteland turned out to be no different than her own, filled with life and growth, and without the heavy burdens and closed doors of her home, her prison.
Realizing that the heavens were still very much open, she turned to the closest cover, a patch of high trees with an expansive canopy to shelter her, she made for them. Making sure to hurry along, knowing that Clive may well have gone back to the elders, in which case she would have to keep moving throughout the night, and keep her ears alert for any sound that might indicate a follower.
It would be a long night, a night in which she may lose her life, but it was all worth it, to escape that place.
Several years later
Carla sat up against one of her kitchen cabinets, half alive, desperately clutching a wad of tea towels to her side, her mind racing and her heart pumping erratically.
As the first rays of morning began to stream through her windows, she studied her options like the fine print of a contract written in blood. The light coming in through the windows illuminated the dust particles that hovered lazily in the air, looking for a place to reside, but not being able to actually settle there, as small gusts of air kept them suspended perfectly.
The light also betrayed the large pool of blood slowly tracing a path along the kitchen floor, dripping steadily from the saturated tea towels. Carla's chest heaved, taking in painfully heavy breaths.
Carla closed her hand around another clean tea towel, balling it up and quickly swapping it for the one against her side, revealing the deep wound in her side, but only for a second.
Swapping her bloodied hand for her clean one, she reached up for the counter above, closing her hand around the edge, shifting her legs to turn herself over, readying herself for the pain to escalate.
Carla sucked in a deep breath, and pushed herself up, forcing her legs to work, letting out a pained groan that would have been louder if she had not bitten down on her tongue. Suddenly in the morning sunlight, she felt so much better, the light bathed her skin and she began to softly shine, tearing the tea towel away from her side so the sun could reach there too. This caused the skin to pull together, scab over, and then completely heal into normal flesh.
Letting out a slow breath, Carla smiled dropping the towels to the kitchen floor and grabbed her keys, heading for the back door.
When she got outside she quickly realized that her car was looking in very bad shape, to the say the least. All windows broken including the windscreen and her tyres slashed. She sighed, glancing around for ideas.
Her eyes were drawn to her neighbour's car, which still sat immobile in their driveway. Carla scolded herself internally, but headed for the short fence, stepping over it and reaching for the handle. Of course, locked.
Walking up the driveway and out onto the street, Carla glanced both ways, warily checking if the car vandal was still around, desperately hoping that he had left after sun up. Surely knowing that he had no chance of disposing of her during the day.
Walking down the street she decided her best chance was to hitch-hike, either with or without the drivers consent.
Running through a few blocks of houses, before finally coming to the side of a motor way, she wandered along the road. Knowing that this was the road going south from her current area of residence, Sioux Falls, out of South Dakota.
After about three hours of ceaseless walking, her hand held out beside her indicating that she needed a ride, she heard a heavy lorry pulling into a lay by as she walked past. Being one of the few vehicles on the road, she turned around and inspected the face of the man sitting behind the wheel, he was quite skinny, but not underweight, and from what she could see he had a large bushy moustache and slicked back greasy hair, with two equally bushy eyebrows. As he pulled the lorry to a stop beside her, he indicated with his hand that she should open the down and get in, she complied.
"Well hello there, where you headed, Missy?" the man asked, with a smile that bent up the corners of his moustache.
"Where's the end of the line?" Carla asked, closing the door behind her as she sat herself down in the seat next to the man. Now sitting next to him she realized that he had a medium sized bulge of a belly sticking out under his T-shirt, showing that he was not completely skinny.
"End of the line's New Orleans, Louisiana, goin' through Omaha, Kansas city, Little Rock, Shreveport before then. You're welcome for the whole journey if you can stand my company for that long" His smile never faltered, and Carla gave her own, half-hearted polite smile, doing her best to make it seem genuine.
"Thank you very much for your kindness" Carla strapped herself in, putting her elbow up on the door handle, and resting her head on her palm.
"Oh you're more than welcome… does get awful lonely on these long hauls" The man turned back to the road, steering his way out of the lay by and back into the traffic.
"What's your name?" The man asked, his eyes focused on the road, but his mind focused on conversation. "I'm Pete"
"Penelope" Carla smiled, hoping that three states away would be far enough, though in the back of her mind she knew otherwise.
"You running from something the Penelope? Or is it just a surprise un-booked holiday?" Carla could tell Pete meant it as a joke, but was surprised by how obvious her situation appeared.
"You could say it was something like that" Carla said, her eyes fixed on the road, her mind flashing back.
As said previously, review, etc, tell me what you think!
-Shad out! ^^