Leon was the first to awaken, around dawn, as he had been the first to drift off into slumber. The boy lay there for several moments, reflecting upon the things he had dreamt. His dreams, or dream, rather, had been one he had had so often, about when he and Lireal had been given into the care of the orphanage, or so they presumed, where they spent the first half of their life. Seven years to the day, since this was their fourteenth birthday and the New Year, besides. The two had ceased to stay up until midnight four years ago, deciding that it was better to get up early the next day and enjoy the day as opposed to the night. Lireal never really cared for the night and Leon felt that the night seemed to call him, especially at midnight. Such a sensation frightened him, though he made light of it by saying it was the witching hour. Recently, however, the feeling had been growing stronger, even entering into dreams. Last night's dream had been a welcome relief from the shadow-filled nightmares of late.
The dream had begun with a fuzzy recollection of thundering hooves and of being held in the strong grasp of a rider upon his jet-black horse. Leon and Lireal had discussed the color of the horse many times and, though neither could discern how they knew the color, they both agreed that it was black. After a time, the hoofbeats came to a halt and Leon felt himself being handed to someone on foot. Then, he was returned to the one who had been riding the horse. The man said something, which neither could recall, in a deep, sinister voice and that was where Leon's recollection faltered. Lireal could always remember hearing the reply of a woman, but there her memory failed as well.
Thinking of these things brought Leon's mind to his years at the orphanage. Lireal and himself had never much in the way of friends and adults tended to avoid them, most likely because of their odd appearances. Eventually, however, a woman in her early thirties came to visit. Her husband had died just six months before, three weeks after she had miscarried their child. Feeling lonely and wanting so much to have a child, even if her dear husband was no longer around, she had decided to adopt. Leon smiled to himself at the image of the plump Mrs. Calloway, with her rosy cheeks and amicable nature. By some miracle, she had taken a liking to the twins, despite their queer nature, and adopted them. Since that time, Leon and Lireal had been dwelling with Mrs. Calloway, a happy, if small, family.
Leon sighed as his thoughts turned to more recent times, to the previous night. What had been going on? Try as he might, the boy still couldn't figure it out. Sighing once more, he got out of bed, the springs of the mattress and the slats of the ladder squeaking ever so slightly. This noise was enough to disturb Lireal from her light slumber and her eyelids flickered open. She turned over to look at Leon as he opened his chest and pulled out a shirt and a pair of worn jeans.
"Good morning," she murmured, sitting up carefully so as not to bump her head on the upper bunk. "You're up early."
"I know," replied Leon. "I'm going for a walk, since Mrs. Calloway isn't likely to be up yet. Something still isn't right and I need time to think about it. Are you going to come or sleep more?"
"I'll come. I want to know what's going on, too," said Lireal, rolling out of bed and stumbling to her own chest of clothing. She too, pulled out a t-shirt and jeans. "Did you have that dream again? I did..."
"Mmhmm..." Leon picked out a pair of socks and some underwear, then retreated to the bathroom to change. Lireal changed in the bedroom and was just placing her pajamas in the laundry basket when Leon returned. He placed his own pajamas in the laundry basket and they both opened their door and left the room. Lireal was first to reach the kitchen. Everything was much as it had been the night before, save for that the radio was off and all the dishes were clean and put away. The girl looked through the window above the sink, seeing a dark gray skin, tinged with the pink of dawn. The ground was dark with moisture, puddles littering the earth. The grass was bowed with water droplets and the branches of leafless tress dripped constantly. Other branches and sticks lay scattered across the yard.
"It's so gloomy outside," murmured Lireal with a sigh.
"Indeed," agreed Leon. "But let's go."
The two went to the back door, put their boots on and each pulled on a windbreaker. Then, Leon opened the door and they both went outside. For a time, they walked along in silence, around the house and along the road towards town. They lived about two miles north of Hunter's Combe, but the twins rarely went there. Once Mrs. Calloway had adopted them, she had home schooled them, so they didn't go down for school and if they needed groceries or anything, Mrs. Calloway would go and get them herself. Her reasoning was that, though she loved the two dearly, other people would likely shun them. Having gotten used such comments from the nun who had run the orphanage, they didn't mind too much. Today, however, they figured few people would be about this early after new year's and, if they were, it wouldn't matter.
About half a mile from town, Leon said, "It seems almost too quiet."
A moment later, Lireal replied, "You're right... I wonder if it's just because of the violent storm last night?"
"I don't know."
"Look at that tree," exclaimed the girl, suddenly. "It's positively coated with rooks! I've never seen so many in one place before."
Even as she said this, Leon pointed to a tree directly across the street from the first. Upon it were perched a great many falcons. "And look at all the falcons, too," he gasped. "What the heck?"
Unnerved, the two hesitantly continued along the road, keeping to the exact middle so as to be as far from each tree as possible. As the twins passed between them, however, a cacophony of caws and screeches erupted. All the birds took off at once into the sky, the rooks rising as a vast cloud of black while the white undersides of the falcons caught the rising sun and gleamed. Leon and Lireal pressed tightly together in fear, back to back staring at the flock. Suddenly, a few of the rooks dived at the falcons and a few of the birds of prey did likewise. Feathers went flying in clumps as an aerial brawl broke out.
"Let's get out of here," moaned Lireal, pulling her brother behind her as she took off running towards town.
Author's notes:
Thanks to my reviewers! Here are my replies to your reviews
Demoness of the Shadows: Thankies for reveiwing again! I'm sorry this took so long to get out... Umm... Will will feature prominently in the next chapter (which I have yet to finish)
Sorrowful Wind-Whisperer: I kind of did base the night before on that particular section of the Dark is Rising. Thanks for the compliment! Um.. Yes... there will be romance... But I am not going to spoil it by telling you with whom! All I can guarrentee is that it won't be slash...
Dai-aron Kenobi: I do hope this chapter satisfies your curiosity about where and how they lived, at least to a certain extent. Their relationship with Mrs. Calloway will be further explained in the next chapter or two, I think.. Mwahaha.. more strange things in this chapter!
Umm... I am terribly sorry for the delay, but I have been busy and I just didn't have any inspiration for a while.
Preview of next chapter:
Chapter 3: Will Stanton
Actually, I'm not going to post any text from the chapter, just tell you that much is revealed in this chapter and that it is likely to be one of the longest chapters of this story.