As Darien cautiously stepped out of the warm house and into the surprisingly cold night he was careful to take his time in getting to the two family members that were standing out in the darkness.
He didn't want to alert the man that was with them, just in case he was a threat to the family. Because if the man did decide to attack the pair, Darien wouldn't be able to get to them in time. What Darien was planning on doing was to sneak up and surprise the guy, then he would probably kill him, unless he was told otherwise.
But what Darien really wanted to do was to go back inside and go to bed, he thought or was told that being a bodyguard for this family would be easy and with no conflict.
Clearing his thoughts and deciding to not directly approach the group, he slowly bent down and crouched behind a very thick line of shrubs that was placed all around the house and the property. Darien wanted to make sure that the family was being threatened before he attacked the man standing with them. Straining his ears to eavesdrop on the trio's conversation, Darien could only make out a few whispered words that didn't seem to hold any importance.
Getting ready to dart to another bush so he could hear better, Darien quickly made his way to another thick shrub only this time his foot landed on a fallen tree branch. Darien knew the snap of the branch even before it happened and when it did happen the noise seemed much more amplified to him. Darien imagined that at any moment the group would probably start walking over to where the noise was and then decide to investigate.
Gently lifting up his shoe from the broken branch and getting ready to dart away from the group again, Darien decided to first part the plants in front of him and see if they had noticed anything. What Darien saw was a relief, the group had only stopped talking and started looking around, but thankfully they seemed to pass it off as an animal or something else.
The only problem that worried Darien was that the unknown man with the family would always look over to where Darien was hidden behind the shrubs. It felt like the man knew that Darien was there and that he was watching them.
After five minutes, Darien was trying to ignore the oncoming leg cramp from sitting in a crouched position for so long. Trying to relieve the pain in his leg he looked up to the sky, there was clouds moving and covering the moon, it cast an ominous look to the backyard that Darien was in.
Concentrating again on the voices that were coming from the group ahead of him, Darien could hear everything that they said with clarity. The man that Darien didn't know started talking; he didn't seem like the brightest of people, but even from where Darien sat he looked incredibly tall and very strong.
Darien also kept in mind that this could possibly be an enemy and that everyone could be in danger. But what irritated Darien the most was that the family he was supposed to be protecting was outside without him and they were in the darkness. He also distantly remembered that Laura said there was a man that would stand right outside of the house almost every night.
Maybe this is the man that Laura was talking to me about the other day, but why would she want to talk to a man that would look into her windows every night? This might also be the person who was outside when I woke up the other night.
Darien still didn't understand why she would bring her son with her to see a stranger, especially at night.
Maybe I missed something when Laura was telling me about the man, because when I asked her about it she was calm and I was livid, I may have missed something. But still, why would they go outside and see a stranger, especially when I'm in the house with them.
Dropping his thoughts when he heard the man speak again, Darien paid close attention to what he was saying. Trying to hear everything Darien ducked even lower into the plants and held his breath so he could catch everything that the man was saying. "You didn't complete what I asked of you, why? Do you think that I should replace you and if I do end up replacing you then everyone around here dies" The dark figure looked very pleased with himself, he seemed to like to boast about his strength and power.
Laura seemed scared as she struggled to answered all of the questions that was thrown at her. "I…I don't know, what did I do? And why would you think about replacing me?" Darien was surprised at Laura's response, he expected her to yell at the man or anything else than what she did. With only a few words, she was reduced to stuttering and looking weak which was the opposite of what she acted like in front of him.
"Don't act dumb with me, Laura." The man seemed quite angry with her, he also acted like he knew her very well.
" Fine, I will try harder next time, okay? That is all that I have to say for you, now go and leave our son out of this. I can't believe that I even brought him outside to see you, he is scared to death now." After Laura was done talking, Darien replayed what she had said again in his head. He didn't know if he heard her right, it could have been a mistake, at least he liked to think of it as one.
What! This isn't her husband, it cant be Bryant, he was never this cruel.
Darien was trying to figure out how this could be Bryant, but he came up with absolutely nothing. Darien had attended the funeral and he had been very much dead, there was absolutely no way he could be standing just feet away from him. Some part of Darien was happy that his friend was okay, but this person talking to Laura wasn't the friend that he knew.
No, this isn't him, something is very wrong with this situation. I still haven't seen his face and his voice is a little different than I remember, so it might not be him. Or maybe this is just another man that Laura knew.
" No! No to both questions" The man's hard voice cut through the air and he saw Laura jump in surprise. Obviously she expected the man to agree with her. Darien watched as the man looked away from Laura a moment and then glance at the plants where Darien was hiding in.
As the man was ignoring the two people next to him, he didn't see Laura nudge the shaking Robert with her foot. Without missing another beat, the man turned back to Laura and spoke to her as Robert darted across the yard and into the cold night, unseen.
"Well then, what do you want me to do, since your answer is… no." Darien caught a quiver in her voice when she said "no".
As more transpired between them, Darien could barely register the words that the man and Laura were saying, it was a complete shock. Darien didn't know what to do.
Before he could make a proper decision, Darien watched the events unfold in front of him and they seemed to go by in slow motion. The man never answered Laura's question, he just slapped her hard across the face, and he had slapped her hard enough to draw blood.
Darien was almost on his feet to run over to Laura when he felt something by his side. Ignoring whatever he had felt, he started heading towards the two angry figures ahead of him at a quick pace.
Darien finally stopped when a movement and a shadow crossed his peripheral vision. Turning to his right, he saw Robert. The boy was trembling and was looking at him in a frightened manner, as if asking him to help his mother. Before he could speak to the shuddering boy, he heard the man finally answer Laura's previous question.
"You had your last chance today! You should have listened to me the first time."
'Bryant' grabbed her by the arm and pulled her closer to him. "We had a deal, it seems that you don't value your family much, so this won't be hard at all for you."
The man dropped her arm and sharply turned to his side, he seemed to be looking for something. After a few seconds the man seemed angry, in fact Darien could practically feel the man's frustration and anger rolling off of him and into the still night air.
Again the figure spun around to face Laura, he looked like he wanted an explanation for something. In a small voice Laura asked, " What is wrong?" The man's frown deepened, while Laura smirked knowingly, like she knew something that he didn't.
" Where is he, where is the boy at?" His voice sounded like he was barely able to hold in his anger.
" What boy? You surely don't mean our son, do you? Well he is long gone, he left while you were talking to me." Darien could practically hear the triumph in her voice.
I have to do something soon, this is going to get bad.
Darien felt the pressure to do something and anything to protect Laura and Robert. He needed to save the boy and Laura from danger and soon, he also needed to stop stalling.
Darien turned to Robert who was by his right side and pulled him closer, he whispered is the softest voice that he could manage. While he was talking to Robert, Darien hoped that the man wasn't hurting Laura, but the boy needed to be safe before he could save her. " Robert, please go inside and hide somewhere, and you should get your grandmother too. Tell her that there is danger, she should know what to do." Darien watched as the boy nodded numbly and quickly ducked into the house without making much noise.
As Darien made sure Robert was safe and inside the house, he turned his attention back to the fighting pair. Slowly shifting his weight, Darien carefully stood up and started to approach the two arguing figures.
Suddenly as Darien was just feet away from the two, the clouds in the sky parted and the glow of the full moon lit up the two figures. What Darien saw was surprising, the mysterious man that he thought was Bryant, in fact turned out to be him even though he was supposed to be dead.
After a pause Bryant seemed to think about something, soon an evil glint crossed his already dark eyes and Darien saw Bryant perform some sort of complicated hand movement in front of Laura. Next a scream went through the air and then there was a bright white light that pierced the dark night and illuminated the surrounding objects. This time everything seemed to happen so fast, Darien had no time to think.
When the blinding white light faded away, Darien didn't know what was happening so he instinctively looked for Laura and he saw her almost immediately, she was on the grass and looking very pale. Her long dark hair was spread around her messily and all over the place, which was odd because she was usually so neat and clean.
Darien was alarmed when she didn't move, not even when he gently shook her. Suddenly remembering Bryant, Darien looked around for him, he was nowhere in sight. Bryant seemed to have disappeared, but what Darien saw when he looked to his side was a another body laying deathly still next to his. Glancing out of the corner of his eye again, Darien noticed that the body close to Laura hadn't been there before the bright light had illuminated the sky.
Pulling his attention away from the other body and back to Laura, he forgot all about Bryant or maybe he just didn't want to think about him yet. All Darien was thinking about was to get everyone to safety, no matter what the cost was. Picking Laura up off of the ground, he started to walk briskly towards the house, hoping that Robert had taken some sort of safety measure that they had spoken about.
As he was about to reach the side door of the house, Darien didn't hear the gentle crunching of footsteps behind him until he was on the ground holding the back of his head in pain. Dimly he remembered his vision getting darker than he ever thought possible in the already dark night and then a loud noise that vibrated through the air with energy.
Soon everything seemed to spin and that only made Darien's headache feel worse, it felt like someone was taking a hammer to his skull. After an unknown amount of time, the spinning stopped and Darien felt some degree of relief.
Feeling Danger, he slowly sat up and opened his eyes. He saw absolutely nothing at all, but he didn't need light to know that his vision was spinning. As the spinning slowly went away Darien could only feel what he assumed or hoped was damp earth beneath him.
After sitting deathly still on the ground, Darien's vision adjusted to the very dark room. The only thing that he could make out was that he was sitting in some sort of utility room or closest with nothing but the dim light from underneath the door barely lighting the room.
Feeling very open and vulnerable to attack, Darien stood up gradually and thrust his hands out so he could feel if there was any type of objects near him, as if they would tell him where he was exactly.
Suddenly he heard footsteps nearby and someone shuffle their feet around right next to him. Surprised that he hadn't noticed anyone, Darien scrambled backwards until he was hidden once again from sight, but only this time he was behind what seemed like rather large boxes.
Rubbing the back of his head, Darien, who was now even more used to the darkness than before looked over to where he heard the noises. Not surprisingly at all, Laura was there and she was laying on her back, but it didnt look like she had moved at all. She was still deathly pale and he could barely see some blood on her face, he was not sure though because she was not illuminated enough in the dark room, it could have been shadows on her face.
Hearing the steps grow nearer, he wondered whether he should pull Laura over by him. Before he could think properly he jumped forward and grabbed Laura's shirt sleeve, she felt really stiff as he pulled her towards him and she also felt inhumanly cold.
Reaching down for her wrist to check if she was okay, Darien was suprised when he couldn't find a pulse at all. Quickly he bent his head and lowered his ear towards her heart, he heard absolutely nothing. A feeling of dread washed over him, he felt the cold hard facts hit him all at once and way too quickly, he had failed and Laura had died because of his foolishness. He knew that there was no way to bring her back, he just knew it. Darien also needed to accept the fact that she was dead and get on with his life quickly so he could possibly get out of the building alive. Thinking back to what may have killed her, all Darien could think about was the light that Bryant had produced with his hands. Whatever the light was that hit her must have killed her, Darien just wished that she had died quickly.
I should have acted sooner, I was supposed to protect her. Why did I have to hesitate at attacking Bryant for so long, I didn't even know it was him at first.
Feeling guilt overwhelm him, Darien searched for a sheet to cover her up with as a sort of last respect. As his hands searched the damp ground for some sort of sheet, he suddenly pulled his hands back as if he had been burned, what was lying next to Laura was what disturbed Darien the most.
The sight before him was simply unsettling, there was two more bodies in the room, but they were both the same person, it was Bryant. Walking towards them he felt for a pulse just like he did for Laura. This time however he could feel a pulse in one body, but not the other. Darien wondered if they both were the same person, they had to be though. He also thought back to the body on the ground next to Laura's that had showed up after the light went away.
As echoes of heavy footsteps grew closer to the door, Darien stood up and braced himself for a fight and he planned to win. The footsteps suddenly stopped by the door and the person seemed to hesitate, after a few seconds the footsteps started down the hall again. Sighing Darien was disappointed because he really wanted an opportunity to get out of the dark room which housed him and the three other bodies. Darien decided to try the door anyway though, but just as he figured, it was locked.
Turning around to face the three still bodies, he was surprised to find that only one was on the damp ground. Spinning around so his back faced the door he looked around the room and spotted Laura. She was staring at him, but with deadly vacant eyes that were glazed over with death. For a second all Darien could do was stare at the zombie like Laura, he knew that she still wasn't alive. Darien then saw the other body, which was Bryant, he was also zombie like. Darien looked around the room for a weapon, but he found none in reach.
Choosing his words carefully Darien spoke in a low voice. "I know someone is in here and controlling the bodies, but what I want to know is who or what you are?"
The last figure that was left on the dirt moved so fast Darien had to step back because Bryant was so close to him. "Yes, I suppose that I will tell you. Well I'm not the real Bryant, neither is he." The Bryant impersonator pointed a long finger toward the deathly still body of another Bryant that was on the ground.
Darien was about to ask why he was here, but the man beat him to it. "To put it simply, you were in our way by listening to our conversation, so naturally we need to dispose of everyone who gains information on us." The vile voice seemed to vibrate through the entire room, his voice sounding very awkward with Bryant's face.
As if sensing the displeasure from Darien, the figure laughed again and began changing shape. The once strong and masculine looking face of Bryant started to morbidly morph and change into another masculine face, but shaped differently. And his body also started to obscenely change shape by growing slightly taller and gaining about twenty more pounds. When the transformation was complete, the man didn't resemble Bryant at all anymore.
Trying to not act surprised, Darien nonchalantly asked the figure, " It seems you do this often, but you still haven't answered my previous question."
This time the voice was deep and fitted the face. " Yes. Your right, I do this often. Anyway, to put it bluntly I need to kill you. We all want you dead and the girl didn't fulfill her duties, that's why she lays on the ground dead." The man seemed very pleased with himself for killing Laura because he wore a wide smile. The man didn't seem finished with talking though, so he continued.
"You humans have no power at all and are so easily defeated that it is pathetic." The man said this with a sour look on his face, which twisted his facial features and made his face take on a ghastly appearance.
Letting confusion cross his face Darien asked, "Why didn't you murder me when you first found out about my presence, because you had a lot of opportunities to."
" You don't sound too grateful that I spared your life…well if only for a few more minutes. We need you dead because we know you carry too much information about us and there was way too many witnesses when we were outside of that house, that is why we are here." He stopped and smiled, like he was trying to remember something.
"I shouldn't have even killed Laura when I did, someone could have been watching. Anyway, we figured that you would come after us sooner or later and you would bring company. Speaking about company, they should be dead right about now, or maybe close to it." The man in front of him sneered while waiting for Darien's response. The only thing that kept Darien from attacking the man in front of him was that he needed more information and that he knew Serena and the others could take care of themselves.
Deciding to ignore the comment about the murdering of his wife and her friends Darien continued without missing a beat. "Well how did you know about me and the others, we didn't know about you until just a few weeks ago."
" Oh, you ask nothing about your wife and her friends, I see. But we knew about you because your little friend came poking around and found out too much too soon. You see there is more people like me, we each have our own special abilities so we knew everything about you. And before you ask, yes I knew about the package that was delivered to you, we just thought you would be too stupid to do anything about it. We were surprised when you got so far, we then sent Laura on a special mission to murder you since we knew her husband was your friend. Laura failed like I knew she would, she couldn't kill anyone, even if we did threaten to kill her family…."
As the man continued his rant, Darien was busy looking for a weapon, but he was still listening to him talk. If there was anything that he learned about the guy was that he liked to boast and would only pay attention to whatever would further his cause.
Slowly reaching down along the wall that was behind him, Darien grasped something very heavy, it felt rusty as he ran his fingers over the metal. It was some sort of hammer, maybe a sledge hammer if Darien was lucky.
After discreetly hiding the hammer again, but it was still in reaching distance, Darien paid close attention to the boasting man in front of him, Darien wanted more information and if the man was stupid enough to give it out, he would take it.
Trying to sound nonchalant and interested in the man, Darien asked him another question. "Why did I see you change or shape shift into Bryant and why is another Bryant standing up in this very room, he is supposed to be dead. I also want to know how Laura is involved in this?" The man seemed to think on Darien's questions.
" Well you see, we can change into whoever we want to at anytime or place, isn't that a superior quality compared to whatever you can do?" The man looked like he wanted some more praise about his abilities, so Darien nodded his head.
"When your police friend, Bryant, found out too much, we killed him and read his thoughts and memories. That's why the police station was burned, we knew that he had sent information to you and the other officers by computer. Laura thinks that her husband had to fake his death to get away with charges of murder, which by the way he didn't actually murder anyone anyway. That's why when she saw her 'husband' tonight she wasn't surprised that he was still alive.We found out that she would do just about anything for him, that is the main reason as to why we would change into Bryant." He laughed at Laura's expense and then continued.
"But just incase she wouldn't do anything for him, we told her in Bryant's form that he would kill their son and other family if she didn't help him cover up some of the evidence of the murders. She was supposed to either try and kill you or get information out of you, she did neither so that's why she is dead." The man was looking at him with flat eyes, he suddenly looked bored.
Now Darien knew why Laura was always so unkind and cold, he would also be that way if this was going on in his life. Now the only thing that Darien needed to do was kill this man and possibly the others in the building then break out of this place, where ever it was located. Darien knew that breaking out would be difficult and maybe impossible, but he would at least try.
"What I really want to know is are you human? Or do you come from a different planet?" Darien had gained confidence in knowing that the thing in front of him didn't look too smart, but Darien was still on edge.
The man in front of him smiled and looked like he was about to say something, but he seemed to stop himself. Unexpectedly the man snapped his finger and looked straight at Darien. Darien then felt a slight burning sensation all over his body, it was sort of uncomfortable.
Looking at the shadowed figure, Darien genuinely looked confused. What is this man doing? Since I met these people or things I have just been surprised. This is our first foe who is actually strong and seems to work off of their own natural powers. They also seem to only want to take over the world, but every enemy wants to do that.
When the man snapped his fingers for the second time he heard dragging of feet and a zombie like Laura and Bryant started to walk over towards him. As Darien was watching Laura and Bryant walk towards him, he felt a burning gaze on his back and the burning that he had felt previously was growing warmer and harder to bare.
A thought came to Darien's mind, the thought told him to walk towards Laura and Bryant and let them kill him, it seemed simple. Without thinking Darien started to approach the two now standing forms in front of him.
The weird thing about it was that Darien's mind kept telling him that Laura and Bryant was dead. Feeling the burning in his body slowly start to ebb he felt something heavy being placed in him palm. As Darien listened to the voice in his mind everything stopped hurting, but when he tried to rebel against it the burning would only intensify.
As he was only inches away from Laura, he felt his arm being brought up against his will. Then he saw that Laura also had her arm up with something held inside her hand, Bryant was standing still and watching the scene with dull eyes.
By the time Darien was close enough to touch Laura, his body issued a warnig to him, trying to tell him something was wrong. Listening to his body he realized that he was being controlled by an enemy and he was also being told to kill someone that was already dead and that the dead was also trying to kill him.
" Man these days humans are such weak creatures, they are controlled so easily. By the way, when your two are done beating each other up, I want the winner over here, not that it matters anyway, I can just make more of you." The man said all of this while yawning and looking bored.
Darien's smiled, since Laura was dead he wouldn't hurt her by fighting her. But it he did fight her, he would most likely have less strength and he wouldn't be able to face the other men in the building. Darien still didn't want to harm the dead body of Laura, it seemed wrong and being controlled by some sick person from another planet was even worse.
The creature who looked human just wanted the entertainment of two people fighting against each other and he seemed to enjoy that they were fighting against their will.
As Darien walked closer to the stiff looking Laura, he raised his weapon and instead of using the weapon in his hands on her, he quickly spun around and launched it at the unsuspecting man across the small dark room with all of his strength.
A few seconds after the initial hit, the man uttered a sound of pain and shock. Before he could straighten himself out, Darien punched him across the jaw and gave him a good push backward. As the man careened into the wall, a sickening crack was heard and then silence.
After the man hit the wall, there was two loud echoing thuds in the room. The two dead bodies that were his friends dropped to the floor in a ungraceful pile. Walking over to the two bodies, Darien was surprised when they both just disappeared with a pop and didn't leave a trace of power or dust.
Still surprised about the other bodies, Darien went over to the enemies body. Looking up, Darien stared at the grotesque picture that the body had made. When Darien had attacked the man then pushed him, he crashed backwards into sharp protruding tools that now kept him pinned to the wall.
Well all I can say is one down and a lot more to go.
Darien then proceeded to check the vital signs of the body, when he was assured that the man was dead he grabbed a rag that he prayed was clean and wiped his dirty bloody hands off. Discarding the old rag, Darien walked towards what he assumed was the door that he could possibly get out of.
Darien grabbed the old rusty handle of the door and twisted with all of his strength, the only thing he succeeded in doing was getting a handful of rust. But just as he assumed, it was locked tight. Walking over to the motionless body by the wall again, Darien felt around in some of the dead mans pockets, but not one pocket contained a set of keys to get out of the room.
Walking around the damp enclosed room, Darien looked around for the heavy hammer that he had previously held. Darien was sure that it could definitely break open the door, if he could find it.
After a few more minutes of searching the room again, Darien found what he needed in the corner of the room, it was where he had dropped it. Shrugging his shoulders and walking over to the door he pulled the hammer back and with all his strength and momentum, brought the hammer down on the handle of the door.
Wincing at the painfully loud noise that the hammer made, Darien hoped that he still went unnoticed in the building. Opening the heavy and rusty door, Darien stepped out of the dark room and into a very dim lit hallway.
A/N- I have two options for the ending and I would like to know what you guys would like. A. Happy Ending or B. Sad Ending. Now you can leave a review or message saying what you want, considering that if you are reading this now you might want a say. I'm open for either one of the endings. There is only three or so chapters left to this story. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. Thanks ;D