4. The Man In The Shadows

'He, the manifestation of darkness, seeps through the cracks in human hearts.' – Bloodsongs.

*

(Art)

The cafeteria was pregnant with too many sweaty bodies and noises that were meaningless. People talked over each other, laughed, hooted, and generally were happy. It almost made him relax.

Art expertly avoided people as he manoeuvred his way around the crowd, thinking about his dream-no, his nightmare. Shit.

The nightmare was getting so hard to stop, and it was starting to feel too real, too vivid.

Last night, the nightmare had been much more real that all the other times. It was like he was actually living in that dream!

He had dreamed again of the girl with strange eyes, yesterday. He was trying to separate the black willows that were suffocating him, to reach her. To save her.

He could still feel the sting of the black tears the trees shed. The trees he had spent time with, from when he was young, whenever he wanted peace and solitude. The trees that watched him do his magick, away from the human eyes. It had always been his go to place when he needed to clear his head, when he needed to thing, but they were not comforting in the nightmare. They were hostile, angry.

The dark cloud hung above his head and there was a snarl in the air as he circumnavigated around the tight ring formed by the trees. It was too tight, and his breath came out in a shallow puff.

He could hear a small sob. He knew he needed to save her, needed to reach her before it was too late. But it would always be too late.

He waved his hands, trying to break the circle with his magick, but like every time, his magick never worked in the nightmare. In the nightmare, he was always a weakling with no power. He was always, always the normal one. For once, he wanted his magick, and he never got it.

He found a gap around the trees, even as he prayed for the girl and before he reached her, he saw the dead blue eyes, turning black and then she fell down, her body making a soft thud in the jade green moss covering the floor, her eyes blaming as she whispered, 'You failed me. Again.'

It was so damn realistic. He could smell the dirt of the forest, the scent of death, could feel the touch of panic in her ice blue eyes.

He still didn't know who this girl was, but whoever she was, she knew how to guilt trip him, in the dreams and then would follow him while he was awake. Her blue eyes were the rarest he had seen, and always the first he would see, as she died.

It was always her death, but sometimes he died along. Those dreams were easy, because if he didn't die in the dreams, he would think of it again, feel the guilt and helplessness even as he woke from the dream.

It was really stupid to feel bad about some dream, but he did, and he couldn't not feel anything. It was so complicated.

He was pushed along the throng of people, and he shook his head to ward off the memories of the nightmare. They were too much to think about in the light of the day.

Some guys and girls waved at him, some called out his name and some patted him on the back. He loved this familiarity. He had known every one of them. They had gone to same kindergarten, gone to same middle school. Some of them were not his closest friends and some he hated, but he knew... when all was said and done, he would do anything for these people, and they, for him.

This was community, this whole town was home. Except... he was the oddity in this home. The strangeness. Even his girlfriend didn't know about who he was. Who he really was.

He found Julie's amber eyes in their table. He waved at her as his eyes met hers and she smiled, looking happy. She was always happy. She was the kind of girl who was happy about eating French fries.

"Excuse me," a girl bumped into him. "Sorry," she said without even looking up from her phone. He wondered what was so important on her phone.

"Yes, I am an OOT. No. I don't want to date you." She didn't even look up as she said that. He didn't like that, not at all.

Art gritted his teeth. Quite arrogant! He thought as he looked down at her head.

She kept typing something furiously in her phone as she stood there in front of him. Her platinum blonde hair was covering her face. He knew she was the little Aurora mom was talking about. His next door neighbour. The one who might or might not have magick.

He tried to get a read on her magick, but he didn't sense anything from her. She looked quite normal.

"You are excused, and it is rude to not look at a person when you are apologizing. And I don't want to date you, either. I am not good with arrogant people." He said and walked away from her before she could actually respond to his attack.

He could feel the sharp buzz and he knew she was staring at her-or more like throwing daggers at his back with her eyes-but he didn't look back. He didn't have to. He could feel everything she was feeling. Anger. Irritation. And then indifference.

Oh, magick! A gift that keeps on giving. Sometimes, he did love his magick, as well. He could sense emotions and feelings, too. It was also one of his power.

"There is a new girl, everyone is buzzing about her." Julie said as he sat down next to her. He saw the curled leaves on his tray and flicked his finger with a soft murmur and they became fresh. Yes, he was reduced to using his magick on food, now. Life was boring in Coven Graves, anyways.

There were no adventures to be had, no real ones. Yes, in his nightmares, he had quite some not so fun adventures.

"They did buzz, when you first moved in as well and then you had stop being so exotic. She would stop being exotic, soon, as well." Art said to her with a shrug, and she laughed as she grabbed her fries.

"They did. They so did." She said with a shake of her head.

"Hey Art. Julie." Zach sat in the chair as he looked at Art. "The new girl..." he started and Art sighed. He had already listened to his mom talking about the new girl. Now, everyone at school was also talking about her.

"I'm tired of her already." Art said with a frown as Zach started to gush about her.

"She is beautiful." Zach said. "And also, a little bit arrogant, but it suits her, too. The cool calmness." Zach said. "And she is funny, too, in that really dry sense of humor way..."

"Arrogance is not a nice personality trait." Art said with a frown.

"Says the most arrogant guy I have ever seen." Zach retorted and then widened his eyes with a small mischievous smirk. "Do not throw a chair at me."

Art softly whispered and flicked his index finger outside and Zach flushed red with anger as he glared at Art.

Julie looked confused. "Did you hear that sound? Like something ripping?"

Yes. Art did. It was Zach's pants, except Julie didn't know that. She was quite in the dark when it came to her boyfriend's power.

She blinked at Art and then at Zach and shook her head with a sigh. She couldn't understand these guys. They had known each other since birth and she was still very new here.

"Art..." Zach hissed, and Art smiled as he quirked his brows. "Sorry, you are not arrogant. You are the kindest, most sensible, irrational- I mean, rational person I have ever met."

Art flicked his finger out again and Zach sighed.

***

(Azakeal)

"This is such a disaster." Azakeal said as he flipped through his 'Book of Guardianship.'

"What now?" Castiel, his best friend, sighed.

"I- look..."

"What in the world?!" Castiel's eyes widened as he stared at the darkness lingering just outside.

Azak watched Aurora as she leaned against the walls, staring through the windows.

"She can see him." Azak whispered, as he felt the need to protect her from this darkness.

Azak could feel her fear, her fright, her pain, her agitation. He could feel her bewilderment and the panic raising inside her.

But, he could do nothing about it.

***

(Unknown)

He slinked near the trees, hidden from the students walking and chatting around the campus. His eyes switched on and off-gold to black and back to gold-and his teeth, sharp pointed fangs, protruded out from his lips that was painted blood red.

Nobody noticed him or gave him any deference he deserved from these low lives. But he would wait. Patiently. He had waited for so long, and now it was so close.

He could taste it, the result of his wait. His time would soon come and then everyone would see him, would notice him, and give him the due respect for his power, for his magick.

His followers would soon raise and this place would become a war zone and he would stand in the bloodshed and then they would all bow to him. Would give him the admiration and fear he desired, he deserved.

His smile was dark as sin and the fang glittered in the sunlight. Small animals scurried past him in hurry, lest he tried to capture them and kill them. Kill them, he often did, for it was fun.

Animals could sense his evil, smell his cruelty, and yet these humans think they were the most intelligent creatures. Weaklings.

He could crush them between his hands and they would still not understand anything about him. He sneered, his eyes mocking and vile.

With a curl of smoke, he vanished into where he came from – the pit of blackness.

He had been waiting a long, long time and just few more months was nothing to him. And then he would come back and this world would see his magnificence. His power.

'Wait for me, mortals. I will be back. You will either follow me and sacrifice your souls or I will drag your souls out of you, as you scream and thrash.'

___