Darkness Chapter 3: The Fishing Trawler

"C'mon Edward!" Rosie complained. "Throw the ball already!"

Edward was lost in thought. He was so excited for his chance to go out of Nome for a few days that he was already thinking of what he was going to do. He smiled and threw the ball to an eager Jenna and Rosie. It went over the little girl's head but Jenna was right behind her to knock it back. Edward wasn't expecting this however and got a ball to the head.

He fell over in surprise but laughed anyhow in spite of himself. Rosie couldn't contain herself; she was rolling in the snow laughing. "Alright Rosie what next?" Edward asked her. "I don't have to leave immediately like you said so what do you wanna do?"

She thought for a moment. She couldn't outrun him so definitely not tag. That didn't mean she couldn't hide! "Can we play hide and seek?" She asked eagerly. "I'll hide and you seek me ok? Count to a hundred though!"

Edward nodded then closed his eyes. As he counted he thought of how much that little girl was to him. Rosie was his first real friend since...the accident. From what his uncle told him, Edward had been in a horrible sleigh wreck with his parents. They died on impact but he survived with a severe head injury. His uncle didn't think he'd make it but when he did he had no memories of his parents or anything before that.

Hell it took several months to get him to talk. When he finally did his first words were "Who am I?" That's when his uncle told him. For several years Edward lived in his uncle's house and didn't leave except on very rare occasions. When he finally did get out he had a very hard time making friends over the years. That was until a out two years ago when he bumped into Rosie after her dog Jenna, who was a one year old pup back then, tried to steal his lunch.

He caught her of course but after that Rosie made it her "job" to be Edward's friend. He knew the real reason was because she could call him her boyfriend to kids her age. After awhile though they hung out everyday. It was like having a wonderful little sister.

Even her parents approved of this. Which was why he was here today counting from one to a hundred. "Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, A Hundred! Ready or not!"

This was fairly simple. All he had to do was follow the little footprints she left. They were easy to track because she took all the back alleys with the most snow. Her little footprints were big enough to see with the naked eye. He followed the path for a little bit. Expecting to get to a stop at some point Edward went at a leisurely pace. Then the unexpected happened. The path kept going and going...the way it was heading...she'd be out of town.

Edward looked up to see frozen snow. He'd run out of building and left Nome through one it's many back routes. "Rosie?!" He called out looking around. "Where are you?!" The tracks went a little ways before vanishing. There were no buildings didn't shield the wind from blowing them away. Edward was worried now. There wasn't any sign of Rosie and a red haired girl is easy to spot in the white snow.

What was he going to do? She was gone without a trace. "Rosie answer me! You out there?!" Edward was frantic. "Rosie-"

"Edward help!" An unfamiliar voice called out to him. He turned to see a red husky run up to him. "Rosie is in danger!"

"Jenna?" Edward was feeling weirded out. First that wolf-dog Balto and now her? What was going on here? "Since when do you talk?"

She didn't answer however. She turned and ran. "Hey wait!" Edward called to her and followed closely behind. Where could she be leading him? This was way too crazy for him. At first he thought he'd imagined it but now he knew for sure. Animals had started talking to him. But how and why he didn't know. A fishing trawler could be seen from a distance. It was run down with a gaping hole in the side.

The way it was sitting it must have wrecked years and years ago because a good portion of it was buried in the snow. As he got closer he could see a kind of ramp that led to the deck. All in all it was a total dump. Why Rosie had decided to hide here was beyond him. Now she was in danger, but from what? When they got to it nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was a lot bigger up close.

"She ran up there but I smelled wolf." Jenna teared up then looked at her feet. "I got scared and didn't go with her. Then I smelled your sent and went to find you. Can you go up there with me and get her?"

Edward regarded her for a second. As weird as it was that he could understand Jenna it felt natural. He nodded and petted her gently. He didn't know what was going on or why but he could think on it after Rosie wasn't in danger.

After taking a deep breathe Edward went left foot first onto the ramp. Jenna followed close behind as he walked slowly and cautiously up it. He didn't know how stable it was, so it was best not to take the chance. Step by step they got closer to the deck. The two silently prayed that Rosie was alright. When they reached the top it had a beautiful ocean view.

Edward looked around for any sign of his red headed friend. Jenna sniffed around looking for her scent. When she caught it she pointed the way to go. Edward nodding then walked towards the ship's control center of sorts where the steering wheel was. There was a small scuffling sound and giggling that could be heard. Giggling? There was a curtain blocking what was inside from view. Edward took another deep breathe and pulled it away.

"Hi Edward!" Rosie beamed up at him. He sighed with relief when he saw she was petting that wolf-dog Balto from earlier. That explained the wolf scent. He wasn't worried at all now. Balto seemed harmless enough to him since he had a big grin on his face. Did dogs grin? "I guess you found me!"

Jenna jumped in front of Rosie protectively. "I swear if you hurt my girl I'll tear your apart!" Balto got a hurt look in his eyes and dropped his ears.

"Jenna he wouldn't hurt a fly." Edward chuckled and pet the wolf-dog. "If he was going to hurt Rosie he would've done it by now. Balto right? It's nice to see you again."

The wolf-dog's eyes widened. Balto had never heard anyone say that to him. It felt nice to not be treated like a monster.

"Thank you-" Balto began.

WACK!

Edward felt a sharp pain in his head before blacking out. He felt himself fall forward but not hit the deck. There was just a constant feeling of falling at a constant pace. As he did he could swear he heard a voice. One that sounded very familiar of only he could just...suddenly he started to slow to a stop and landed softly on his feet.

He was still in the lot of darkness unable to see a foot in front of him. All he could hear was his own breathe.

"How..." Edward said out loud. "How did I get here? One moment I was...that's funny I don't remember."

He took a step forward making the darkness around him flash in a blaze of light. The light was so blinding he covered his face. After his eyes adjusted he saw that he was In an alley way. It wasn't like your traditional one though. Not in terms of Alaska anyway. It was significantly warmer and the ground wasn't dirt or snow. It was cobbled with stones that were smooth with a polished finish.

The walls around him were made up of red bricks as opposed to the wood styled homes of Nome. Lastly was how he looked. Edward looked down to see black pants, a button down shirt, and a vest. It was odd yet familiar. Then he heard something that sent chills down his spine that was nothing like the ice of Nome.

It was...whimpering...

He looked down the alleyway to see a boy crying. The sight of it made Edward's heart skip a beat. Who was that and why...were they so familiar...?

"Edward..." He froze when he heard a voice behind him. He turned to see a Schnauzer mix staring at him. She had a nice face but he still was apprehensive about the talking bit. "You shouldn't be here."

"What do you mean?" Edward was confused. "What is here?"

"That boy knows." The Canine responded gesturing to the crying child. "For he is Atticus Parker and you Edward Thomson have no right to exist."

A/N: Ok I know updates are slow bit I've been trying my hardest with School and graduation. I promise this summer will be full of updates. Until then please bear with me. As always if you like it review it and if you want it to burn in hell review it. If you loved it then Fav/Follow. Atticus out!