Penny's POV
Walking through the rubble of the long since exterminated Palace of Darkness, I hear footsteps shattering the already tiny pieces of glass that once formed intricate windows.
"Penny Flynnwick…" I heard a coarse voice whisper my name. I whipped my head around to try and locate the owner of the voice. In the corner of my eye, I see a shadow disappearing further into the darkness.
"Penny… Flynnwick!" the voice sounds desperate.
"Who are you?! What do you want with me?!" I yell, spinning around, hoping my voice doesn't betray the fear I feel inside. Hoping my thumping heart cannot be heard. Hoping my life will not end tonight…
The Shadow's POV
My finely tuned ears can detect the fear, thick underneath the fake bravado.
"My life is limited…" I lie. In truth I just need to quench the thirst I have ignored for so long. The lack of a child's innocence is driving me insane.
Penny's POV
"My life is limited…" It sounds on the verge of death.
"S-so what?" I say, pretending I don't care. I quickly slip a box of matches out of my pocket. I take one out and attempt to light it. I fail, and drop it in a small puddle, due to the shaking of my hands. I take another one and try again. I manage to coax a flame out of the tiny contraption. I hold it up, closer to my face.
And immediately drop it, petrified.
The Shadow's POV
When I hear the striking of a match on a match box, I duck down. Fortunately, the girl doesn't mange to light it. Suddenly, a thought comes to my mind. I grin to myself through the darkness, and silently walk closer to the child. She's too desperate to light her stupid matches to notice my breath near her face. As she produces a flame, she holds it up between her face and mine and I smirk in the flickering candle light.
Penny's POV
Gold eyes.
Waxy, pale skin.
Thin mouth.
Long nose.
Narrow eyebrows.
The figure I saw for a split second was enough to make me drop the match, and fall backwards. I tried screaming, but I found I didn't even have the strength to open my mouth.
"Hello dear. I see that you have finally seen my face." He snarled.
"U-uh, I-I-I… um….." I try to form a sentence.
"A little stunned are we?" He chuckled.
I shuffle backwards, putting space between myself and this sinister figure from a nightmare. As I climb to my feet, the 'thing' stalks towards, using slow, careful steps.
"W-what do you w-want?" I finally manage to force some words out of my mouth.
"Ahh, what do I want? Hmm, I want a lot of things. A wife maybe, some friends, new clothes. Shall I go on?" he says, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"What do you want with me?" I say.
"Aha, that's a bit more specific." He once again smirks. "You see, it's not just you that I want things from. It's children in general. All I need is their innocence, that's all. The piece of their mind that blinds them from the real world. Would you like to be the first?"
I recoil in horror.
"Don't even bother. You won't be able to run. My troops and I will be having our final meal tonight. Won't be many of us. Just a few hundred."
I hear the sound of leathery winds beating, little feet scurrying, and paws thudding.
"I think that's them now. Do you hear them? Can you even see them?" he says right by my ear. I can smell his rancid breath, the stench of rotting flesh practically suffocating me. He grabs my chin and tilts my head back. I see the little black shapes in the sky flying towards us. I can't help but just stare at them, even though His hand is no longer holding my face up.
They land all around us, and the sudden silence is deafening. I can hear the blood rushing in my ears. 'He' snaps his fingers, and all the tiny creatures that were around us transform into tall, sinister, shadowy figures. Not unlike what seems to be their leader, the one I saw first.
"Ahh, finally, my friends, we meet for one last feat of so-called 'evil'. I have found our first, uh, 'subject' shall we say." He says.
All the eyes of the figures around me suddenly seem to be ablaze with a flame deep inside. They all look at me with the same expression. Only one word can describe their faces. Hunger…
"Dig in." he says, relishing these two simple words.
In a split second, I am laying on the floor, the figures standing over me, still with that crazed, desperate look in their eyes. The tallest one slowly drags a sharp nail from the corner of my left eye down to my chin. I feel another pierce the skin of my right arm with its teeth. A hand grabs my left ankle, and twists, breaking it.
This kind of torture seems to go on for eternity, until the leader steps forwards, and places his hand near my mouth. I see a small ball of white light drift slowly towards his hand.
"The first innocence of thousands has finally been taken, my friends. We now move on." He says, looking at me with disgust. He transforms into a wolf and leads the crowd away.
I was never one for religion, or belief of 'God', or praying. Until that night, I had scorned it all. Until that night I had never said one prayer.
But at that moment, I went for my last resort, and said my first, and final prayer.
Dear God,
Please don't let them get my family. My friends.
Please let the people in my life live.
Amen.
Unfortunately for Penny, that one prayer was never answered.