Shadow
1537 Words
10 years ago,
Darcian walked into a dark tunnel, lighted by fire in the side of the walls. He had a serious expression on his face and a map which led him here.
As he continued his pace he looked at the map in his hand and finally, stopped in front of a wooden door. He held the knob and gulped down his saliva. He hesitantly opened the door and squinted his eyes due to overbearing brightness.
Walking through the dark tunnel, the sudden brightness affected his eyes.
Anyways, after adjusting to the light of the room, Darcian went over.
The room was painted with pure serene white with designs on it and the ceiling of the room was made of glass, which let light enter.
But there were no windows in the room, therefore the room was humid.
Darcian walked towards the coffin made with fine willow wood which lay in the centre above the platform of stairs. Darcian was engulfed by the beauty of the room. But there was a strange phenomenon. Although it has been abandoned for a hundred years, the room has no trace of spider webs or dust.
Nevertheless, he ascended the stairs but as he was about to take a step on the platform, a hemispherical atmosphere surrounded the coffin restricting the invasion of Darcian.
Darcian smiled knowing who it might be. No spider web, no dust, someone must be cleaning it. Protection over the coffin, someone, who knew this place, must be doing it. And there were only two persons who knew this place, Darcian and...
“I haven’t come here to meet a hundred-year-old useless corpse. I came to meet you. Sebastian, COME OUT!”
No one responded to him.
“I said come out, you fool!”
Still, there was no response.
Darcian greeted his teeth and burst out.
“If you don’t plan on coming out, I am going to destroy the coffin, along with the room.”
Darcian raised his hand to destroy the hemispherical atmosphere, but a powerful force hit him, resulting in him falling from the stairs.
Darcian fell on his back. He groaned in pain and tried to sit. He opened his eyes to witness someone in front of him. His eyes travel from his shoes to his face.
Seeing the face of that person, Darcian couldn’t explain if he was delighted or frightened. The person standing in front of him was his brother, Sebastian.
“You are awake! I was right!”, Darcian said being overjoyed.
“I am not Sebastian.”, said the person standing in front of him.
“I am his shadow.”
“You’re what?”, questioned Darcian.
“A shadow, I am not a living being.”
Hearing Shadow’s statement, Darcian’s mood automatically went down. The hope he had, was scattered in fine pieces of iron fillings.
Darcian bit his lips in frustration and said, “You could have known your presence to us.”
“Why should I?”, questioned shadow. “My job is to protect the queen’s body, not the vampires of Vampire’s Palace.”
“He kept a guard for his wife but he forget about us, how ungrateful.”, Darcian stated with a sad smile.
“He was not ungrateful for you all, he was ungrateful for the queen.”, said the Shadow while rotating his head to look at the coffin.
“What do you mean?”, Darcian asked confused.
“The story must be untold, or it shall be forgotten.”, stated Shadow.
“Can you simplify?”
“If I tell you the story, you will carry out Sebastian’s memory. He will forget everything.”
“How?”
“It’s a curse.”
“A curse?”
“Yes, a curse to Sebastian.”
“Then does that mean Sebastian has forgotten about this place?”
“Why do you think so?”
Darcian raised his hand to display the map.
Shadow took a deep breath before replying, “Yes, he might have forgotten.”
“Then there’s the use of keeping his and his wife's story a secret. You can’t alone help him to awaken right? Knowing their story will help me to understand why it’s happening and what’s happening and what to do for the future.”
“You can help?”
“Yes and you might not know, but Sebastian's memory is leaving on their own. See.”
Darcian took out a mini diary from his pocket, opened a page and showed it to Shadow, the words in the diary were slowly lightening their texture.
“Sebastian’s body is healing itself by removing his memory.”, said Shadow.
“Now, what can we do?”, asked Darcian.
“There is nothing we can do. We can wait till Sebastian awakens.”
“There’s something we can do. You can give me Sebastian’s memory; I promise I won’t look through them. Rather than vanishing, I will keep them safe.”, said Darcian promising.
Shadow stood there in silence and gave thought to Darcian’s plan.
“You sure I can believe you?”
“Yes.”
“Take it.”,
Shadow extended his hand and closed his eyes. A black spherical ball formed in his hand, he offered it to Darcian while closing his eyes.
Darcian gulped before saying, “Let us leave it for today, I will come back tomorrow with a preserver jar. I can’t trust myself.”
Shadow instantly snapped open his eyes. He looked frustrated but didn’t say anything.
“Okay, I cordially invite you here before 6 a.m.”
“Sure, I will be.”
***
“Darcian, I have done the entire task you asked me to. Shall we have a good conversation?” Luciana said smiling through her teeth.
Darcian was in a deep thought which broke with Luciana’s voice. Darcian looked at Luciana with a bored expression.
“What?”, asked Darcian.
“A good conversation. I want to know from the start of your planning to what you are planning to do.”
“List all the questions, I will reply to them.”
“I want to have a verbal conversation, not through pen and paper.”, Luciana said with an irritated expression.
“Want to stroll the Vampire’s Palace market?”, Darcian asked out of nowhere.
“No.”, replied Luciana.
“Okay,”, Darcian said as he stood up from the couch.
“I am going to the market, take care of the house.”
“Why should I?”, asked Luciana.
“Because you are doing that for the future.”, replied Darcian casually.
“Didn’t I say, I am not your mate, there’s no way I am staying with you in the future.”, replied Luciana crossing her arms across her chest.
“I am not talking about you being my mate; I am referring to you being my maid.”
With Darcian’s statement, Luciana’s jaw dropped. She licked her lips and let out a series of laughter before abruptly coming to a stop.
“Good one.”
“Are you coming or not?”, Darcian asked for the last time before taking the keys of the car and heading out of the living room. He looked behind and saw Luciana following him. He smiled as he walked towards the garage.
“What about Stella?”, asked Luciana from behind.
“She can take care of herself, you don’t need to care.”
“But she is all alone; she doesn’t even know this place.
“And you haven’t locked your house.”
“Stella is in the house, right? She can take care of it.”, Darcian stopped the luxurious car in front of Luciana and signalled her to get in.
“But... how can you trust a stranger to take care of your house?”, Luciana said getting in the car.
“Because she’s compelled by me, I can know her actions.”, said Darcian before driving them out of his mansion.
Inside the car Luciana sat in the passenger seat and Darcian in the driver seat. He drove smoothly over the car across the block. Luciana looked outside and strangely witnessed not a single house. There were only trees and trees. She looked and saw the extended road.
“How much time does it take to reach the market?”, asked Luciana.
“45 minutes if I drive fast, but it will take 1 hour 60 minutes if I drive at this pace.”
“You mean 2 hours?”
“Yes.”
“Are you living in the countryside?”
“No?”
“Then why is the market so far?”
“Because I own this area. It’s a private area, not suitable for the public to do business.”
Luciana nodded in reply.
“Have you buckled your seat belt?”, asked Darcian.
“Yes, perfectly.”
“Nice, we are going for a nice ride.”
Darcian turned on the music and sped his vehicle through the blocked paved road.
- Writer
