Embraced By Darkness ~ Chapter 1

                                                                                                 

                                                                                       
                                                                                                 

                                                  CHAPTER 1


  Emily awoke in a cold sweat. She could hear the sound of her heart pounding in her chest.The nightmare was still vivid in her mind. The cold dead forest, the long twisted branches reaching out for her, and the dark figure whispering her name and running his ice cold hands down her bare arms. Her skin crawled just thinking about it. Yet something inside of her felt a vague sense of excitement at his touch.

Emily hugged her pillow close to her shivering body.   How can I possibly feel anything other than fear and revulsion?

The room was dark and eerily silent. Too silent. Why is it so quiet? Shouldn't I be able to hear the soft buzzing of the appliances or the crickets chirping in the front yard? Why does it feel like I'm in a vacuum?

  She looked at her alarm clock. 2:45 am. She tried to make out the shapes around her, but the darkness seemed thicker somehow. Even the light from her alarm clock didn't penetrate the blackness.

  Her pulse raced. I have to get out of here, but she was frozen in fear. She could feel it in the darkness. The presence that haunted her in her dreams.

  No, It can't be! I'm awake, how is this possible! But it was there. She could sense it. Something dark and unnatural. She could see it. It was blacker than black, standing at the foot of her bed watching her.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to wake up. She had to still be dreaming. This wasn't real.

  Suddenly her ears popped, and she could hear the soft humming and chirping that used to irritate her in the night. She opened her eyes, and the soft glow from her alarm clock illuminated the room.

  She took a deep breath and ran across the room to her light switch, flicking it on. Light filled the room, engulfing the shadows. I really need to get a lamp she told herself as she jumped back into her bed pulling the comforter up to her chin. She grabbed her remote control off her end table and turned on her TV. There was no way she was getting back to sleep tonight.

                                                 

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  Emily stood in front of her bathroom mirror. She frowned at the image staring back at her. Judging by the dark circles lining her blue eyes and her dull, pale complexion,it was hard to believe she was only seventeen.  Nearly two years of little to no sleep were taking their toll on her.

She smoothed some foundation over her face and added a small amount of blush to her cheeks. When she was satisfied that most of the damage was covered, she dried her long blonde hair, pulled it back from her face with two purple clips and went to her closet to pick out something to wear.

  Dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a purple short sleeved shirt, she went downstairs for breakfast. Her adoptive father, John, was sitting at the breakfast nook reading the newspaper. His warm brown eyes lit up when he saw her. "Good Morning Sunshine," he said with a smile. "Sit down and have some pancakes." 

  Emily looked at her father and smiled. He was clean shaven and his brown hair, still wet from his shower was combed neatly away from his face.

  "Looking sharp today. Hot date?" she teased. "I think you better ask mom first. She tends to frown upon that sort of thing."

  John looked down at his expensive black suit and tie. "This old thing? Nah, you know I only wear my leather pants with the fringe on dates. Just a boring old meeting. If all goes well, I may be opening another restaurant in Toronto."

  "That's awesome, Dad!" she beamed "But thanks a lot for putting that image in my head of you in leather pants. So not cool!"

  John laughed and winked. "Hey, your mother thinks I look cute in them."

  Emily rolled her eyes and feigned a shudder. "Okay Dad, TMI. Would love to discuss this further, but I really have to go." She spread some strawberry jam on a pancake and rolled it up, kissed her father on the cheek and headed out the door. “Say good morning to Mom for me,” she shouted before she closed the door. 

  She climbed in her blue 2013 Ford Escape that her parents had bought her for her sixteenth birthday. As she drove down the street of the upper class neighborhood where she lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, she couldn't help but feel like she didn't belong there. It was far from the rough neighborhood where she was born in the Downtown Eastside.

  She smiled as she recalled the day five years ago when her social worker had told her that a nice couple from the west side were interested in adopting her.  The large two story neo colonial style house with it's sprawling lawn and Japanese garden, was beyond anything she imagined in her wildest dreams.

  Emily pulled into the parking lot of her high school where she had just begun the twelfth grade. She stared at the large, intimidating brick building rising five stories above her, blocking out the early morning sun. She took a deep breath. "One more year left', she sighed as she grabbed her backpack, got out of the car and headed towards the school.

  She walked down the hallway staring straight ahead. As usual no one acknowledged her presence.

  At least when I ignore them, they leave me alone. One more year and I can leave this snooty school and I won't have to see these stuck up snobs again. But until then, I refuse to let them see me cry.

  She hurried to her locker, grabbed her books and headed off to start her day.

  The day went on as usual until Physics class. By then, Emily was exhausted. She struggled to stay awake, but the sound of her teacher's voice droned on and on and she found it difficult to focus on what he was saying. She tried her best but couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She began to drift off but jolted awake when she heard a familiar voice. “Don’t worry, my love, it won’t be long now”

  She must have jumped or gasped because suddenly everyone around her was staring at her and snickering.

"Hey Emily." One of the girls taunted. "Looks like you're as crazy as your dead mother was."

  The class burst into laughter.

  Her physics teacher turned around from the white board and looked sternly at the class.

"That is quite enough!" He scolded. "Emily, are you alright?"

She grabbed her books and ran out of the room straight to the washroom and locked herself in one of the stalls. Tears stung her eyes. What was happening to her? Was the girl right? Was she going crazy? She waited in the stall until the bell rang and then returned to her classroom to tell her teacher she wasn’t feeling well and would be going home. She wished she could just stay home forever.


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  He stood in the shadows watching her. His love, his reason for being. He would have sank into the depths of despair years ago if it weren’t for her light piercing his darkness. She was so beautiful. So delicate. He longed to hold her in his arms and protect her. He saw how others treated her and was enraged by their taunts and cruelty. What infuriated him more was watching her once glowing aura diminish a little more every year. He tried to comfort her in her dreams, but she was frightened by his icy touch and the dark and eerie shadow world where he resided. There was no light where he was. No light, no love, no joy, no laughter, but he knew that her love would bring light to the darkness, and joy and peace to the pain and anguish. He just had to find a way to bring her to him. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do it yet, but he would find a way. There had to be a way.