The Dark

Prologue

It was just getting dark as the street lights flickered into life. A boy no older than 10 walked down the streets headed for home. He shivered as the wind picked up, managing to find its way under his hoody and down his spine. He picked up his pace determined to get home sooner. Taking a short cut down an alley, he suddenly froze in fear at what he saw. In front of him stood a tall, old, man, with long, grey, stringy hair that rested on the shoulders of a long, dark cloak. The old man looked at him through eyes glazed with white and reached out his boney hands to snatch at the boys’ torso, the boy moved as fast as he could but the events were happening so suddenly he had no time to get out of the way. The hand now held his hoody tight. The boy struggled against the iron grip of the old man, a grip no man his age and looking as brittle as him should have. He felt the cold, wet wall slam into his back, as he was swung round, and pinned against it, knocking the air out his lungs, rendering him unable to cry out for help. The pressure on his chest grew and he soon could feel five boney digits digging into his ribs. He looked up at his attacker to plead for him to let go, but all he saw was murderous determination glowing in the old man’s eyes emphasised by his crooked smile. As the pressure grew on his chest, he felt rips bend and snap. Letting out a whelp he realized, the man’s' fingers were now penetrating deep through his skin. Gathering up all his courage, he let out a shout as loud as he could. However, almost immediately this was cut off with a hand at his throat, which crushed his voice into a small choke. At this, he knew he would probably not survive, for some reason this twisted old man felt the need to end someone’s life this night, and not just anyone’s. His. The thoughts running through his head were abruptly cut short when he felt something climbing up his chest, under his rib cage. At the same time, he felt the same thing worming down towards his stomach. He looked down to see what the man had put inside his chest and saw the man’s hand was no longer touching him. It was hovering a few inches away from his chest, with what looked to be black snake protruding from his fingertips. At closer inspection, he realized they were not solid as snakes should be but made from an oily smoky substance. As pain coursed through his body, his head shot back making him hit it against the wall, this sent sparkling lights dancing across his vision. As darkness came creeping over his sight engulfing completely he had one last feeling. He felt pain like never before. He felt his ribs bend and twist, he felt splinters of bone splay out in all directions attacking all the nerves as they slice through muscle and tissue, parting them from where they should be forging a path penetrating his lungs, which filled his mouth with the taste of blood. Suddenly his rips parted and split though his skin, leaving his chest cavity exposed and vulnerable. Then it ended all was black.


 
Chapter 1


Thud! "I want these proofed and check off by this afternoon!" scowling at her boss's sweat patches on his back, that bulged and swelled in odd places where fat had gathered in groups to ease the pressure off his overly tight shirt. Kai thought to herself "just this day then it’s the weekend, a few more hours and I will be at home and will not have to think about this place for 2 whole days." she thumbed her way through the giant pile off letters that had just been shoved on her desk.
Kai was in her early thirties, although to look at her u would never have guessed. She had fresh smooth skin with a complexion that invoked envy in all that saw her. H had long brown hair that hung down just below her shoulders curving and waving slightly giving it a full bountiful look about it. Her eyes were bright with youthful energy and interest in everything around her. She always complemented her naturally caramel skin with clothes that showed off her skinny figure, she added flashes of color to her outfits, to show that unlike most office workers, she had a life and a personality. This of course was when she was not at work. She worked in a big office building that dealt with businesses going into liquidation. She was an office assistant, but that was just fancy office slang or dogs body. She wore a boring grey suit jacket and a salmon pink blouse. The only excitement she had getting ready for work was choosing a simple grey pencil skin accompanied by solid black tights or simple grey trousers. When she was at work stuck at her desk reading and red penning every document that left the building, she did not feel beautiful her hair hung limp and lifeless, the florescent lighting paled and dulled her skin and her eyes were no longer alive with youth and intrigue but glazed with boredom.
Kai was a quarter way through the letters when a hand resting on her shoulder interrupted her. "You work way too hard. I am officially declaring this minute and the five after it a coffee break!"
Chuckling Kai turned to face her only office friend Sarah "I wish I could but if I don’t get these done by this afternoon Mr. 'big' will throw me out this window." Mr. 'big' was the nickname the two friends gave to the office manager. Not just of his physical size but also because the way he parades around the office, like it is his own little kingdom. Unfortunately his real name was nothing like 'big' or related to size, although the irony of such a name would be enjoyed by all. It was plain, boring Mr. Stephen Benjamin Rivers.
"And if I don’t get this done no one will." Kai followed before Sarah could object. This in fact was true, Kai was the one expected to do what no one else would.
"Oh come on! What is 5 minutes? Ok... I will buy your coffee and supply the fags."
Free coffee and fags sounded like heaven to Kai at this point she has been working solidly for two hours now.
"fine ok you win" Kai replied after a few seconds pause to look like she had to think it over, she also tried to add a tone in her voice that sounded as if she had been forced into something she was not sure about.
"Great come on then. There are only four minutes and 27 seconds left of the unofficial official coffee break" Sarah exclaimed pulling Kai out of her chair. On the way to the canteen, Sarah proceeded to gossip and bitch about  most their co-workers they passed. Sarah was a naturally happy person, larger than Kai with pale skin and rosy cheeks. She was the font of all office gossip; she somehow knew everything about everyone. Kai once joked about her having cam eras and phone bugs throughout the entire office; Sarah just smiled at her and pondered on the thought of all the secrets and gossip she could gather, as if it was suggestion. Outside in the smoking shelter Kai sipped her coffee and in-between drags on her cigarette. "You’re quiet. What’s up?" Sarah asked with a look of concern on her face "normally you’re the first the join in on the friendly office bitching."
"Friendly? Ha! If the people you bitch about heard what you say about them, they would not think it friendly."
"Of course they would" Sarah said with a mischievous grin
"Well how about I tell Alan from the copy room about your conspiracy involving him killing a pheasant and trying to cover it up by wearing it as a toupee?"
Sarah opened her mouth to reply but froze, Kai noticed Sarah's gaze shift to something behind her. Kai turn to see what her friend was looking at. Then she noticed something odd, a man was walking towards her. He was tall with dark hair and tanned skin; he wore a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a bright polka dot tie, his tidy clothes contrasted completely with the rugged designer stubble set along his chiseled face. This was odd because in the year she had been working in this building she had not seen one fairly attractive guy. "Ooooo I wonder what he is doing here, come to find me and carry me off to the sunset.  So we can watch as the sun lowers behind a horizon of sea, as we sit on a sandy beach hand in hand." Sarah told Kai as she lent in behind Kai, ending her story with a big sigh. Sarah almost looked disappointed when he walked by them. After a brief discussion on what the handsome stranger could be doing at their place of work, the pair decided it was time to return to their duties in the office.
It was two-thirty before Kai finally put the lid on her red pen and set it back in her desk tidy. She let out a sigh and stretched out her back and neck before gathering up the papers. She handed the papers to Mr. 'Big's' secretary and headed back to her desk. Half way down the corridor she was stopped with a call of her name behind, turning around she saw it was Mr. 'big' who had called for her . "Oh god what does he want now" she thought to herself.
"Ahhh I see you have finished these letters for me Kai, thank you very much" he started "now if you could get me the mailings list for these and give it to Karen." Karen was his un-aesthetically pleasing assistant. Where normally assistants are young and beautiful and general office distraction, Karen was not se was in her late forties and wore thick framed glasses that perched oddly on her crooked nose. This was made obvious by her long angular face.
"And once you have done that, sit in on the conference happening at three to take notes. You should be able to squeeze a quick lunch in between the two. Then once the conference is over, you can finish for the day. Then you can go home and get an early night, you look dog tired" Kai had to hold back on answering back with something like "of course I look tired! I work nonstop for you 'squeezing' lunch in where I can. So you can swan around the office acting like a king! You fat prick!" how she would love to have said that but she would probably lost her job and in turn her cozy little apartment in the city.

The hours seemed to go on for days but Kai was finally in the elevator heading home. She stood there in her own little world with thoughts of what she was going to make for dinner and what she need to pick up from the shops on the way home. She did not even realize the lift had stopped until the doors slid open. Looking up to see whom she had the pleasure of sharing an awkward silence with for the last couples of floors, she saw HIM. The tall handsome stranger from her cigarette break, of whom Sarah spent the next hour or so fantasizing about over the inter office instant messenger. His eyes met hers but she lost her nerve and quickly focused her eyes on the lift buttons "lobby?" she asked extending her hand to the buttons.
"Yes please" he replied. His voice was soft and his words well spoken even though he had slight Scottish accent. Kai pushed in the button marked 'L'. Even though, she had selected that very same button, not two minutes before. After all she already had her hand by the panel and she decided it would have been rude t ask which floor and be seen to press the corresponding button.
"Thomas McIntyre. McIntyre publishing" he announced suddenly protruding he had towards her.
"Oh, hi. Umm Kai Townsend." she said partial shocked by the sudden introduction.
"Had to think on that one. Been a long day has it?" he said followed with a comforting smile.
"You could say that" Kai decided this was a reasonable reply. Not acting as if it was the best day of her life and time just flew by, and not going into too much detail of the stresses and strains of her average working day. After all that would be a little to open on first introductions.
"Ahhhh. You must be from the 15th floor. The business management company. I have seen people coming from that floor looking like their souls have been ripped out there body, all afternoon. At first, I thought the devil had set up shop in this block, but after looking at the unit location board. I realized there was only one thing that could do that to people: office work." Kai let out small laugh at the fact he compared office work with the devil. Then she found herself nodding her agreement. The lift announced they were approaching the lobby, as the doors slid apart; Thomas stood aside to let Kai out first. They walked through the lobby side by side in silence. At the door, they said their goodbyes and went in opposite directions. On the way to her car, Kai amused herself with thoughts of how rare it was to find a NICE man in the city, and how she hoped, they would meet again.

Laden with her shopping bags Kai struggled up the stairs to her apartment. "No lights in the hallway again." she mumbled to herself, as she felt her way to her front door.
She put her shopping down and produced some keys from her hand back.  After fumbling around with them for a short time, she found the one that felt right and proceeded to jab at the door, trying to get that lucky shot at the key hole. Just as she was starting to get annoyed, something caught her attention, from the corner of her eye. She turned to look down the dark corridor, and found herself looking at what looked to be a figure of small boy, walking towards her. In what little light managed to find its way through the tiny window at the top of the next set of stairs, she could see that his clothes had been torn. She heard a noise come from behind, which made her jump and she dropped her keys. The terrifying noise that just scared her turned out to be one of her shopping bags spilling its contents over the floor. Shaking off the goose bumps she bent down to retrieve her keys and runaway shopping, when she looked back down the corridor to inquire if the boy if he needed assistance, there was no-one there. Returning to face the front door with a new a determined vigor to get in. She selected the right key and striking lucky with her first jab at the key hole. As the door opened light spilled in to the dark stair well, she picked up her shopping bags, and checked the corridor a final time before entering the warmth and comfort of her home. After expressing her happiness and relief to be home to the shoe rack, where she slipped off her shoes, she went through to the kitchen.



"Ahh detective Hammond please, come in to my office." Dr. Redman greeted his guest with a customary handshake and led him through to his office.
"Thank you doctor. Now what have you got for me?" Ian asked as he took a seat in the small office.
Detective Ian Hammond of the special investigations office, was a short stocky man of about forty years old. He worked as a regular detective most of his life, until a few years back a strange string of events landed him his current position in the top-secret organization "supernatural paranormal activity investigation team" or "the S.P.A.I.T". His rise through the ranks was not pleasant one. It also started with suspicious murder he was investigating; there was a string of murders, where each corpse was found exactly 12 after the previous. All the bodies had been killed in the same way; their tongues had been ripped out and jaws dislocated, but this was not the course of death. All had been suffocated. However not of normal means, the trauma to the larynx suggests that their life had literally been sucked out of them. This was later backed in the full biopsy report that showed that the diaphragm and lungs had been pulled higher than usual up the body. Over the next year, Ian helped solve more and more odd crimes, this lead to his name being top of the list when the S.P.A.I.T. Task force was put together.
"Well detective Hammond I have a john doe down in my morgue. That by all accounts I should not have. Every death leaves some sort of tell tale sign. John Doe down there shows no signs at all. But the most peculiar thing about this case is this John Doe should be a pile of bones by now if that. According to our data he is over 200 years old. Hence the call to your department." Dr. Redman explained as he handed over the biopsy report.
"Don’t let the cheap suit fool you doctor I don’t speak medical jargon" Hammond handed back the report “I think it best we pay a visit to the morgue." Dr. Redman agreed and escorted him down to the morgue whilst expressing his interest in this case and pointing out the key factors of the death that made it strange.
An hour or so had passed by the time the two men said their goodbyes. Ian sat in his car for a few minutes checking that the Dictaphone had recorded all of his theories, the drove off. As he drove, he mentally cross-referenced all the information he had gathered, with previous case. Nothing matched up, he found himself unsurprised by this as only a small handful of cases reoccurred. The night was still young and he was lucky enough to of got few hours sleep the previous evening; he decided to go over the CCTV footage of the area in which the body was found. This was a long arduous job, so on route to his office he decided to stop of at his house to pick up some comfort items. After all, it is practically impossible to pull an all nighters without decent coffee. The coffee flavored water filled a whole, but when it came to caffeine, it was useless.

Ian sat in a dark room, there was just enough room for the desk and the chair. Ian worked the knobs and buttons whist he stared at the screen stopping occasionally to sip at his gradually cooling coffee. He whizzed the tapes back and forth watching people go in and out of the alley, Stopping the tape to get a better look at each person. After 2 long hours he had fast-forwarded and rewound the same 48 hour recordings the featured both end so of the alley, but did not see Dr. Redman’s John Doe until he was carried out in a body bag. He knew from the police report there was no other entrance to the ally no doors or side passages, and the walls were that of two buildings.
Ian got out of the hard wood chair, stretched his back, and attempted to massage the kink out of his neck. Grabbing his now empty coffee cup Ian headed towards the kitchen. “Fresh coffee that’s what I need. There has to be something I have missed. That man could not have been standing in that alley for all that time. Someone would have notice. Or the look on their faces would have said there was something down there.”
Ian set his coffee and a small pile of biscuits he had stolen from one of the cupboards, in the usual spot on the desk. The “usual” spot was determined by a multitude of coffee rings stained on the desk. As he sat back down on the he noticed he had left the tape running, judging by the police tape and lack of people this was some time after the body had been removed. Reaching for the knobs to rewind something caught his attention on one of the screens. Looking at he did not see what he had seen moving in the corner or his eye. So he rewound the tape a little and played it back. “There!” for a split second he saw what looked to be a small boy, it was just a flash in one frame, but that was enough for him to notice. Rewinding and freezing on the single frame that had the boy in Ian examined the still picture on his screens.
“He is walking” Ian concluded after a few minutes of deciphering the image. “But for him to only appear in one frame he has to either be moving really fast or he is just the presence of himself.” Looking over the still scene of the alley with a semi translucent boy walking a few feet away from it he realized he recognized him. Rewinding the tapes back to a few hours before the body was found. He paused the tape and almost knocking his mug of steaming hot coffee everywhere, he jumped to the monitor. “It’s him!” he shouted. The same boy had been seen entering the alley hours before hand. “Why did I not notice it before? He doesn’t come out the other end, he stays in the alley” Ian started to mumble to himself trying to solve the relevance of this clue. “He stays in the alley way” he repeated. Ian practically burst out of the small room and marched towards his own office, “I saw him go in, and then he didn’t leave till after the clean up. They should have seen him” by this point Ian was in his office scrambling through the files laid out on his desk. “They would have seen him. No, they wouldn’t have! He was just the presence of a boy, how could they have seen him. Come on brain! Work!” he shouted through gritted teeth with annoyance at himself as he knocked on the side of his head. “That boy he must have done it. But why? Who is he? What is he?” picking up the report from the cleanup crew he skimmed through what was written. “No they would not have seen him. Why did I think they would?” Ian froze on the spot as all the clues came into place. “Because I SAW him! He was There when he walked in the alley then something happened! Something that that would cause him to change. It turned him into just a shadow of himself and left an old man dead. An old man that was not there before. Unless! He was! Of course!” running down the corridor with the idea fresh in his mind, he headed back to the video surveillance room. “I didn’t see him enter the alley, because it was the presence of him that entered. There has to be a glimpse of him on here, like there is the boy. The boy!” he exclaimed. “Something that would cause a boy to become a presence and a presence to become real. They swapped! But was it willingly or forced? Why did they do it? What did they swap?” Ian scribbled down his theory and the questions he was asking himself in his little note book and began searching for the glimpse he needed to start the ball rolling on this theory.
The rain hammered down on a cold, wet, windy night, and sally O’Bryan locked up her shop. Opening her umbrella, she stepped out into the night to start her unpleasant walk home. As she walked the mile home, the wind snapped at her coat and trousers causing the rain to bombard her from all directions. Only five minutes into her walk, her trousers were already clinging tightly to her legs. Adding discomfort to an already horrible commute, her trousers felt as if they were tightening with every step, wrapping her legs in a cold, wet embrace. Her long black hair hung heavily down her back, with the occasion lock whipping out in the wind enveloping her face like long thick fingers grapping at her from behind. The cold caused her cheeks to fill with a dark rosy hue, and she felt moist droplets rolling down her long insipid face, and diving of her chin getting caught in the ferocious wind and somehow managing to find its way past her thick red scarf, sending shivers over her torso. Her ample chest seemed to attract the rain, bring about large wet patches on her raincoat.
Abruptly a large gust of wind assailed, upturning her umbrella taking half of it off its spokes. In this moment, the rain seemed to take the opportunity to soak any dry patches left on her body. Soaked through and with a useless umbrella she hurried her pass, wanting to get out of the rain and wind as fast as she could. The thought of a hot bath and steaming cup of hot chocolate spurred her legs to take larger strides than normal. Ditching the umbrella in the next bin, she pulled her scarf over her head, attempting to keep her ears warm and held her collar tight round her neck to compensate for the loss of insulation. She marched on more determined having given up trying to keep the hair out her face. “Not far now” she thought to herself as she neared the end of her road.
As she rounded the corner, she notice a figure dressed in dirty, ripped clothes, huddled under an over grown bush. “Are you ok little boy?” she asked with a worried tone in her voice.
Even though she was well into her thirties, she has never had a child. Not through lack of want, she just did not think it was the right time in her life to have children. She loved kids and cherished every moment she spent with her niece and nephew. Therefore, she did not like to see a child in trouble and would go out of her way to help. She was the one in the shopping center who would drop everything to buy a lost child a sweet and calm them down whilst searching high and low for their parents.
The boy did not answer her so she crouched down and asked again. This time she noticed the boy was crying and put her hand on his knee to comfort him. “Let’s start with the basics: my name is sally, what’s yours?” she asked whilst doing her best to shelter him from the wind. The boy still did not answer.
“Are you lost? Where are your parents?” she probed. The boy still gave no reply. By this point, she had appointed herself the mission of finding out where this boy lived or at least giving him shelter out the rain and some hot food.
“Do you want to come back to my house? I will cook you a nice hot meal and we can get you dry. Then I will take you back to your parents. Does that sound alright to you?” With this last statement, the boy stopped crying and slowly started to lift his head. “Yes that’s it. Let’s get out this blasted rain” sally said with a tone of slight fulfillment in her voice.
However, before she could get up out of her crouch, the boy grabbed her round the wrist with both hand and listed his head to make eye contact with her. Before she knew it, she found herself staring into two pools of darkness for eyes. Jumping back at the sudden movement of the boy and his rich black eyes, she fell backwards and found herself sitting on the pavement. “what the..?” she began to ask but was cut off by the boys pleading for help in a hushed air voice that sounded like it came from deep inside him. she tried to free herself from his grip whilst Reassuring the boy that everything was going to be ok, but couldn’t, he held on to her wrist with the power similar to that of a vice.
As the boy leaned into her, his facial expression changed, from that of a young boy in pain pleading for help, to something darker, evil almost. “Stop.” Sally pleaded as he got closer and closer. Soon the boy was standing, leaning down over her, she found herself kept in place by his iron grip and abnormal strength. This was reinforced by fear, incapacitating her from doing anything but beg him to let go with her eyes. As she stared into the young boys black eyes she saw tears welling up in his eyes, but they were quickly blinked away and replaced with a look of pure hatred. Suddenly she was overcome by an immense pain from her wrist; it felt as though she had just cupped it with a red-hot clamp. She let out a scream but the pain was too much, what started as a scream ended as a moan. She was paralyzed in agony. She did not realize she was no long being held down, until she fell flat on her back. Fighting back the pain she tried to make her escape, but found she was now being held flat to the pavement by something else. It was as if gravity had surged to this one place making it impossible to lift herself up out the wet.
The boy was now stood straight at her side with his hands hovering over her. Panicked by the thoughts of what might come next she attempted to right herself, this time with all the strength she could muster but this was still to no avail.
The pain in her wrist was dulled as her head began to pound and throb, lights danced across her vision and she felt herself slipping away in to a dark sleep. In the moment she felt she was about to pass out she was pulled back to consciousness with the feeling that her limbs were being twisted out. As her legs were forced past their normal limits, she felt her kneecaps dislodge and pop out of place, and her color bone splinter and fracture. The twisting subsided but was replaced with the feeling that her lungs were being filled with oil; this overwhelmed her with a suffocating feeling ending any possibility of her crying out for help. Her lungs continued to expand out and down her body, pushing hard against her rip cage and diaphragm. Her ribs cracked and broke erupting sharply through her skin piercing her bosom. Blood spilled out from each tear but was quickly washed away by the ferocious rain.
The boy moved round to crouch by her head and looked deep into her eyes, sally found all she could do was stare back, she noticed he know grinned with joy and excitement, with every silent scream of pain she let out. She felt his cold hands press against the side of her face and tried to pull away. He was now inhaling deeply over her, and with every deep breath, she felt herself get weaker and weaker. The boys hands slowly moved round her face until they rested over her eyes. Then took his thumbs and pressed them into her eye sockets, the pressure on her eyes increased, and as she felt one of her eyeballs burst, a new type of darkness envelope her. This she knew was death come to end all the pain and suffering. By now, all she wanted was to die so she let it overcome her. But as he removed his hands from her face she was impelled to use the last bit of her strength to look at him, with her one eye left and whisper “why?”
With this the boy shot back on his hunches and screamed to the sky “stop!” when he looked back down, sally saw his expression had changed once more. It was no longer one filled with hate and murder, but was one of shock and disgust, his face paled and although his eyes stay as black as before, they were filled with apology. Then abruptly he stood up and sprinted away.
Sally suddenly lighten as the pressure holding her down dissipated, but still all she could do was lay there and wait for the pain to stop, with deaths’ cold embrace.


“Beep! Beep! Beep! B…”
Kai slammed her hand on the snooze button of her alarm clock, opening her tired eyes she peered at the digits on the clock ; “6:00AM.”
Begrudgingly she peeled back the covers of her double bed and slid her legs off the side, using the momentum to sit up straight. Stretching out her arms above her head she readied her self for another humdrum day. Kia slipped her feet in to her pink wooly rabbit slippers and shuffled to the window, where she pulled back her heavy white curtains with minimalist flowers embroidered in the them, in a spontaneous pattern.
Kia was very good when it came to interior decorating. When decorating her small one bed roomed flat, she bought everything she wrote on her list, but later found out that nothing really went together. Her list may have said ‘bedroom curtains and bedding.” Which to most would mean having to find a nice set, with matching patterns on them both. However Kai found the perfect curtains, in the heavy white with the flowers and bought them with no though of cost. Cost did not matter though she liked them. She then found the ‘perfect’ bedding in a set containing; a ‘chocolate’ brown goose down quilt with a ‘café au lait’ turnover and complementing ‘mocha’ pillows. This she also bought with out thinking too much into it. It wasn’t till later when she had finished painting and wallpapering, with a mixture of light ‘salmon’ paint and a modern abstract wallpaper, she wrapped around the chimney breast as a ‘focal design feature’, something she had seen on ‘changing rooms’. When she realized that she had bought a jumble of styles and patterns. She carried on with the room and in the end decided to call it a ‘look’.
The only room that was not in Kia original ‘look’ was the kitchen, this she had professionals design and fit.
Kai now stood in her silver and gloss black kitchen perched on the counter dozing a little. The ‘click’ of the kettle woke her from her doze and reminded her where the real world was. She poured hot water over the instant coffee mix she had poured in to her oversized mug, with a picture of an angry looking gorilla with messy hair and the catchphrase “I don’t do mornings” under it. Setting down her mug on the breakfast bar she slumped onto a stool and lit a cigarette. After her ritual morning intake of caffeine and nicotine and a hot shower, she decided she was ready to face the day. Feeling adventurous she got dressed into grey, short dress. This was left only for adventurous days in the office as it was only just at knee level and had a thick black collar, this she finished off with a skinny deep purple belt round her waste to give her a little bit of curve. She picked out her favorite black high heels and slipped into them, part way through the second foot her alarm went off again. Kia took a step to the bed side table, slipping her foot out of the half on shoe,  but just before  her foot landed on the hardwood floor  the shoe it had just slipped out of flung itself down in the way coursing Kai to stagger forward and knock everything including the clock, off the table. Looking down at her shoe she realized her mistake, she had fastened up the straps round the ankle already, so it was not a case of just stepping out of the shoe and leaving it behind.
Realizing that she was going to be late if she did not leave for work immediately, she finished doing up her shoe and decided to leave her hair to the elements. This she could do because by the time she got to work she would have shiny, wavy hair that bounced and glided with her, and sure enough by the time she stepped into the front door of the office building her hair was done.
Stepping in to the elevator she pushed the button to her floor and began to put lip balm on in the reflection from the hand rail.
“hold the elevator please!” she heard someone call out and pressed the hold button.
“thank you.” She heard a slightly out of breath man say, “no problem.” She replied and decided to follow up with a polite smile. She then found herself, lip balm poised and ready to continue, smiling at the richest, most handsome man in the building, Thomas McIntyre. Kia felt her self redden and quickly housed her lip balm back in her bag.
“Kai? Isn’t it?” he offered, “wha..? ummm… Yes” she confirmed repressing the urge to jump around because he remembered her name. “Still not sure on that one?” He let out a small chuckle. Kai relaxed a little and managed to exchange small talk with Thomas. As they approached Thomas’s floor they said their farewells. When the doors open Kia watched as he stepped out. Just as he got out of the elevator he spun on one heel and holding out a business card asked “dinner?” before she knew it Kai had excepted the card and offer for dinner and the doors where opening on her floor. Still in shock she was scooped round the arm and half dragged to her desk.
“You look nice.” Sarah offered out as she sat on the edge of Kais’ desk, but before Kai could reply sally Began reeling out her gossip. “so I have been snooping around into who the hot guy was yesterday, and apparently he owns some sort of business a few floors below. So mean he is loaded. I still as of yet don’t know his name, my sources have let me down on this one.” “Sources?” Kai repeated chuckling. “yes. In order to obtain the gossip I am privy to, one must have eyes and ears everywhere.” Sarah’s’ defense was finished with a cheeky grin.
“Well I think I can help you out with his name. It’s Thomas McIntyre.” Sarah’s jaw dropped “howd’ya find that out? Damn spies! How can they not get his name but you did. I’m gunna have to have words.”  Kai produced Thomas’s business card and held it up. Sarah snatched at it like a viper, but Kai pulled it back fast enough for her to miss.
“You stole his business card?” Sarah asked astonished “now that’s going a bit too far. Even I wouldn’t stoop that low. Well not yet.” “I did not steal it.” Kia said sharply. “it was given to me.” Kai accentuated the word ‘Given’ then smugly added “along with an invitation to dinner” Sarah screamed in excitement then grabbed Kai by the shoulders and pulled her nearer so that Kais’ face was within inches of her own. Then after studying Kai’s face, she pushed her back. Then with a look of astonishment, she exclaimed in a hushed voice “you’re not lying!”  Then asked, “Are you gunna Accept?” like an excited schoolgirl. Kai shuffled some papers around her desk and shyly replied, “I don’t know.”
 
Chapter 2

Kai sat in the back the taxi, waiting nervously for it to reach its destination. She pulled out a pocket mirror from her silver and black clutch back she saved for special occasions. She fixed wry bit of hair that would not conform to the loosely bunned style she adopted for tonight, and checked that her subtle make up was indeed subtle and noticeable at the same. She had struggled that evening trying to figure out what make up she should wear. Wanting to look like she made an effort but not wanting to look like some heap escort girl. In the end, after some debate with Sarah over the phone she settled for natural colors round the eyes and hint of blush, then to add the 'effort' factor a dark rouge lip-gloss, that Sarah had convinced her to dab off a few times so it was not too glossy.
The taxi pulled to a posh looking restaurant, with smart nice dressed people sat inside, which was a relief to Kai, as she did not want to be over dressed. Kai paid the taxi fair and gracefully slide out the taxi. Her light blue silk scarf fluttered in the breeze making it look as if she had mastered the control of water and had it wrapped over her shoulders. The loose whispers of hair dance in the air and round her face. She snatched these and tucked them away and ran her hands down the figure hugging deep blue dress she was wearing, to straighten out any creases and pull it down so it hovered just below the ankle, where it should be. The she wore was elegant and sophisticated and although it showed her natural figure it had a ruffled v neck to draw attention to her cleavage, and it flowed loosely out the as it passed the waist stopped just high enough to show off the thin strapped silver high heels.
"You look radiant Kai," a voice said to her side. Turning, her gaze met Thomas’s and he offered her his arm and a comforting smile. "Shall we?" he asked indicating that that should enter the restaurant. "Thank you." Kai replied letting him guide her to the door. She noticed that although he had opted for a basic, clean cut, well made suit in the usual black with white shirt, he still looked more dashing than ever, it was as if he got more good looking every time they met. The restaurant Thomas had chosen was of classic French style, and as soon as Kai stepped in and was led to their table, she felt as if she was whisked away in some magical world. The large low hanging chandeliers and the softly played grand piano playing in the background added to this feeling.
At the table Thomas noticed that Kai was acting a little uncomfortable in her surrounds "are you ok here?" he asked. "I’m fine, I’m just not used to being somewhere like this. I feel a little silly." Kai answered hiding her face slightly from because he has started to redden in the face. Thomas let out a small quiet laugh, took her hand down from her face, and with one finger under her chin, lifted it so their eyes met and whispered, “We could always go to ‘Chick’O’Land’ But I think dressed like that you would be more uncomfortable."
An hour had passed and by now, Kai had eased and relaxed. She was even starting to enjoy herself. The plates from the main course were taken from the table and Kai politely refused the dessert menu. After topping up Kai’s wine glass Thomas stood up and extended a hand to her, “Shall we dance?” almost choking on her wine she declined his invitation, “I really can’t dance.”  “Nonsense, its easy come I will show you.” Thomas kept his and extended but added a charming smile. “No, and don’t even think about trying to charm me in to it.” Kai said trying to sound final whist trying to shoo him away. With this Thomas tilted his head slightly to the side and opened his eyes a bit wider. “Oh god! The ‘puppy dog’ look. Are you kidding? You actually think that is going to work?”
“Of course.” Thomas said whilst pulling Kai up out her chair. With that, Kai rolled her eyes and gave in to him. At first, she swayed awkwardly, nervously glancing round the room at who might be watching her. As time passed she noticed her surroundings less and less, until soon it seemed like it was just the two of them. As they, slowly dance Kai rested her head on his shoulder, giving Thomas the silent cue to pull her in closer. the hands on Kai’s back were firm yet gentle, her nose was filled with his smell, a smell that was undoubtedly masculine but had hints of sweetness. She felt his chest up against hers and was hypnotized by the rhythm of his breathing. She noticed him move his head closer and could soon feel his breathing on her neck, sending shivers down her spine with every exhale. The breath soon changed to something heavier and she realized he was gently kissing her neck, starting from behind the ear making his way down to her shoulder. Kai pulled her head up from his shoulder and Thomas followed suit, standing still, Kai raised her hand up and rested it on the side of his face, she looked into his eyes and pulled him towards her. She could feel his breath dancing over her lips, making them tingle with anticipation. The ghostly kiss of his breath was soon replaced with the feathery light touch of his lips, she could almost taste him. Kai felt something inside burst with excitement; her entire body was tingling, on fire with lust her, her breathing was jagged and deep. The hand on the back of her head was getting firmer as their lips touch more. Suddenly her attention was drawn to a loud noise nearby, as a window was pulled shut. All of a sudden, Kai was more than too aware of her surroundings and of the people, she was sharing this moment with and every feeling of excitement and lust fled from her and was replaced with a mild embarrassment.
The pair pulled away from their embrace and sat back down all of the previous chemistry they were sharing now gone. Kai drank deeply from her wine glass trying to wash away the thoughts of everyone watching them. “Shall we leave?” Thomas suggested, with a mouth full of wine Kai could only mumble her agreement.
The pair decided to go for a walk, and Kai asked Thomas if he minded her smoking, he just laughed and said “you don’t need permission of me to smoke.”
“its polite.” Kai told him and removed a cigarette from he packet and starting to fumble round her bag for a lighter, after a few seconds she still had not found her lighter, she lifted here bag higher and tilted it towards the light so she could look for it. Kai heard footsteps running towards her, and glancing up and back down again she stepped to the side to let the runner passed whilst she continued to search her bag. In the corner of her bag Kai spotted her lighter and had it in her fingers but before she could extracted it from its hiding place she felt something hit her elbow and send her spinning round.
Before she could stop herself spinning, her vision was filled flashes of images, she saw countless faces followed by pictures of those people dead, dismember and disfigured. Her head felt like it was going to exploded as the images flashed out of view and all she saw was the figure of a boy, tied up and crying in an endless darkness, the boys’ head looked up and looked right at Kai. The boys mouth opened as if he was about to say something, but like the other things she saw it flashed away again. Kai found herself back on the pavement off balance watching a small boy running off into the distance. Before Kai fell to the floor, she felt strong arms catch her from behind and pull her upright. “Watch where you’re going you little shit!” Thomas shouted as he steadied Kai “are you OK?” he asked her still holding her as if she could topple over any second.
Kai realized her brain was trying to escape, by expanding beyond her skull. “I’m fine, but I think the wine is kicking in.” she replied rubbing at her temples. Thomas smiled at her and after hailing for a taxi, her straightened up her scarf kissed her lightly on the forehead and whispered, “let’s gets you home then.”