Disclaimer: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and all of its characters are copyrighted by Hanna Barbara. I do not own any of the characters from this show.
Background: Following up after my previous 4 stories, the Quest kids are on their summer vacations. Hadji was dropped off in Bangalore after the "Story of the Ruins" story for a few weeks. Jonny and Benton remained with him for a few days and after seeing that he had somewhat recovered from the previous episode, return to Maine, to join Race, Jessie and Estella. Following the events of "Dream Quest", Jonny, Jessie and their parents decide to go on a short trip to visit one of Dr. Quest's old classmates. Unfortunately, this visit may not end well.
The City of Darkness
It was late at night. The full moon shone upon the town, casting a pale light upon the cobbled streets of the town.
Not a soul stirred on the streets, although if any residents were presently indoors, it would be hard to begrudge them for staying there. Only fools would venture out into those dishevelled streets alone at night. Although the moon was full, barely any light reached street level. This was due to the shadows cast by the Gothic structures, which surrounded both sides of the streets that ran along the town centre.
The buildings and architecture only added to the ominous atmosphere, casting shadows of the sharp spires and menacing statues, which seem to follow you down the road.
Suddenly there was a loud sound. A distant clock tower tolled twice, signalling the passing of another hour in the deserted stretch of civilisation. The sound of the clock tower's bells echoed maliciously throughout the dark streets, appearing to get louder, the further it went from the tower. Not a soul, be it human or animal, seemed to respond to this disturbance.
However, an event in the town's centre stirred life into the once dead streets. A rope was silently flung down the side of one of the buildings from an upstairs window. A dark figure emerged from the alleyway between this building and the one next to it. The figure took hold of the rope and swiftly climbed up, into a room.
Silently, it crept out of the room and opened the door of the room opposite to the one it had entered. A middle aged man slept soundly on the bed at the centre of the room, but it seemed that his sleep was about to be extended indefinitely. The silent figure stood over the man's sleeping form. It gently lifted the blanket which covered the man's body, to reveal that he was wearing an ornate necklace. The necklace appeared to have a coin, adorned with a skull attached to it. The intruder briefly gazed at the necklace and, after ascertaining that it had found what it was looking for, attempted to gently remove it from the man's neck.
However, this was proving difficult. As the intruder pulled at the necklace in an attempt to remove it from around the man's neck, he was awoken by the sudden tug at the ornament around his neck.
This was unfortunately the last time he would physically open his eyes again. He stared at the intruder for a moment, still not entirely awake, and then tried to scream for help. He knew what was happening. He had expected thieves to try to take away this mysterious possession of his. Sadly, it was too late to alert anyone. His scream was muffled by a strong, bony hand that was placed on his face, as another hand appeared to draw a blade. The man's eyes widened. Even in the dark, he could make out the glint of the weapon.
His attacker was quick and professional. Although it was dark, he had examined his victim and knew exactly where to strike if lethal force became necessary for him to complete his mission. He stabbed the man once in the sternum, penetrating the heart with his blade. To make sure that the dying victim would not alert anyone else as to what happened in the room and to make sure that he would never walk out of there alive, the attacker kept his hand clasped tightly to the man's face until the attacker finally felt him attempt to draw his final breath.
With the kill confirmed, the assailant withdrew the blade and, snatching the necklace, exited the same way he came in. He turned swiftly and ran back into the alley from whence he had first emerged. There was a sudden sound of an engine starting. A bright light shined onto the once darkened main street, illuminating it. The assailant burst out of the alley on a motorcycle, riding down the street. Its work was done – for now...
The rest of the story is coming within a few days. Stay tuned!
