Raindrops spattered against the windowpanes of the house, making the cloud-covered dusk seem darker than usual. The young boy grinned mischievously, dashing outside, barefoot, into the warm summer rain. This was his favorite thing in the whole world; summer evenings with the rain pouring down.
Spreading his arms wide, the boy laughed and spun in giddy circles, splashing through puddles without a care in the world. His violin lessons were completely forgotten, his childishly innocent mind only having room for the incredible joy that the rain brought him.
With a laugh, he ran through the wet grass to the sidewalk and jumped into a puddle. His feet slipped out from under him, sending him sprawling on his backside. "Ow!" he whimpered, his blue shorts and tank top soaked through. Getting to his feet, he resumed his playing until something caught his eye.
"Huh?" Brilliantly blue eyes, the color of the most perfect clear summer sky, just barely caught the shadowy movement near the alleyway between two houses. "Kitty?" Laughing again, he hurried after the shadow and ducked into the alley. "Kitty-kitty! Where'd you g...oh."
His eyes widened hugely at the sight that met them. The deepening gloom of the alley was filled completely with a writhing mass of dark shapes, glowing yellow eyes staring unblinkingly back at the little boy. "That's not a kitty," he gulped, backing up into the road.
"Edmy!" The woman's voice cut straight through his shock as she came out onto the front step, looking for her wandering son. "Edmy! Hurry and come back inside, it's almost dinner time!"
"Ah!" Edmy turned quickly and ran back toward his home and his mother. "Mama! I'm coming!" The pulsing, watching shadows were forgotten, wiped from his mind as if they had never been.
Watching the boy leave, the cloaked figure couldn't help but smirk under the shadow of his hood. He was one to watch, this one. He turned to go, coal-like red eyes glowed in the last glimmer of twilight as the cloaked man disappeared into the door to darkness.