The darkness of the night filled the world like a thick fog, blanketing the dank abandoned streets in an ongoing gloom. The slow-dripping pipes and distant sound automobiles were the only thing that accompanied the fast paced clip of my hard soled boots on the cobbled pavement.
I walked alone shrouded in black, a hood covering my face in an even thicker darkness compared to what lied in the shadows.
I came upon my destination: a huge door of sorts that loomed over the corner it was tucked away in, hidden from the prying eyes of the city. Glancing over my shoulder just once, I slipped inside my pale slim fingers lingering on the thick metal ensuring its closure. Walking down a low ceilinged passageway the tunnel opened up to a sprawling scene.
"Ma'm." A rather odd creature greeted me with a low bow of its oblong head. This creature was tall and skittish looking with long, pale spindly arms and huge unblinking eyes. It was no human, but an imp.
I nodded in reply, but did not look at the creature for my gaze was upon the scene before me. The market: the place any creature of the dark went in search of something particular, illegal or otherwise.
The market was more like a city: it housed many creatures due to past human rejection. For some unknown reason they do not believe in the dark anymore, nor do they have the capability to see in it.
The streets were like veins, constantly moving with the flow of beings, selling and buying and moving constantly. I tightened my grip on my hood as I wove my way through the streets.
"Moralie" Another creature reached out, stopping me with a hand on my shoulder.
With a light gasp of surprise I turned rather quickly to the man behind me that had stopped her.
"Brother" I greeted with a tone of relief, a pale hand upon my breast in a moment of shock.
"You should not be wandering the streets, dear sister" He said in his usual pompous attitude, leaning down to speak in my ear.
"You leave me for nearly fifty years and the first thing you tell me is a reprimand?" I said with a non-humorous laugh, violently tugging my shoulder from my brothers light grip and I pushed him back a pace.
He frowned looking at me. "Do you not know the cause of my absence?" He asked in a low tone, his brow knitting together.
"I know perfectly well why you left and I wished to never to see you again." I snapped, taking my turn to move inches from his face looking him hard in the eye before brushing past him and getting lost in the crowd.
As I walked on I could hear my brother call my name, but I walked on at a brisk pace bumping into many creatures as I did. One check in particular nearly knocked me over
I had stopped so as to regain my footing on the cobbled stone, but the man didn't stop or even falter.
Two hours later. Manhattan
Wearing a long gown and a hood to match I sat in the very back of the auction with the intent of buying only one of the items for sale.
"We'll open the bidding at two hundred thousand dollars." The auctioneer began. A distinguished guest raised his hand.
"Two hundred and seventy-five, and two hundred now seventy-five, and... we have three hundred, thank you Mr. Van Hausen... three hundred thousand once-"
A woman in a red dress raised her hand "Now three hundred and fifty thousand, thank you Mrs. Bernstein..."
As the auction carried on, a steward left the room and headed down a darkened corridor where other stewards were wheeling auction lots
to and from the sales room.
"And now, for our next item. Lot #777."
Two stewards wheeled in an oaken box and opened it. Nestled in maroon velvet was an eight-inch, ornately decorated arc of gold. I lifted my bored gaze to the glittering object.
"A once-in-lifetime opportunity. For the
first time in auction. A piece of the Royal Crown of Bethmoora... A precious artifact dating from the Atrebatean period. Exquisite workmanship in 24 carat gold." He continued.
The lights flickered briefly after a boom of thunder rattled the window panes. The event provoked unsettled murmurs from the audience. I glanced around with shivers running up my spine.
"Please- please ladies and gentlemen... may I have your attention. As I was saying, observe the fanciful creature adorning the outer surface-figures from a lost mythology..."
The lights went out completely and people began to stand and shout protests. I stood quickly with the rest of them my gaze darting to the shadows of the room and from the sudden darkness, a shadowy figure spoke up.
"Lost- ? Not at all. Forgotten by you perhaps but very much alive."
Hello! Thank for checking out chapter one! I'm testing it out at the moment. Moralie is pronounced more-uh-lie (lie as in the "fly" sound) like comment or subscribe! (Lol).