Chapter One

'The Darkness is known to always do two things - take a life...and spare one.'

1871

The young girl woke in the dead of the night. It was unusual. She was always awakened by the first rays of morning. She could not see anything as she lied face up in her bed, and for a moment, she forgot where she was. Her breathing intensified as her eyes darted around, only to be met by more darkness, except for a small opening above her where a very faint light flowed in and she could hear the sound of the leaves rustling in the breeze outside.

When her eyes finally began to adjust to the darkness, she remembered that she had been asleep in her room. It was still too dark to see anything, however, as the candle sitting on her nightstand had long burned out. She looked over to her left, barely able to see her older sister's bed on the other side of the room.

"L-Lyda?" she stuttered, almost too afraid to make a sound in the darkness. There was no response from the other bed, and she guessed her sister was fast asleep, but she tried again. "Lyda."

Her heart suddenly stopped when she heard a noise like a muffled moaning come in through the open window above them. A cold wave of fear swept over her body. She desperately tried to remind herself of what her parents might say. It's just the wind, she said to herself, the wind can't hurt you.

None of this was any help as the moaning continued. She let out a quiet gasp at what sounded like something scratching at the wall of their cottage. She imagined her parents would say it was only the tree branches scraping against the roof, but this noise did not sound like it was coming from the roof. It was coming from below.

"Lyda," she attempted to call once more, this time uttering loud enough to be heard. "Lyda!"

To her relief, she heard a quiet groan come from across the room, but she still could not see anything.

"Adea?" the tired voice of a preadolescent girl grumbled. "What is it?"

The girl named Adea struggled to control her frightened breathing. "Do you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"That scratching sound."

There was a brief pause as Adea awaited her sister's response, listening fearfully as the noise continued outside.

"It's nothing," Lyda said at last.

"Can you close the window?" Adea asked.

"What? You close it."

"I can't reach it. Please, Lyda?"

"Go back to sleep," Lyda said in annoyance. "It's just the trees scraping against the roof."

Adea could not help but feel alarmed by her sister's admonishment, and more so by her use of the same words she was thinking in her head. The scratching noise refused to cease, and Adea decided to take her chance while she knew her sister was still awake. She threw off her blanket and jumped to her feet, approaching the open window that was halfway between their beds. She was just tall enough to see the trees and the mountains in the distance, but not enough to see the ground, which also meant that she was not tall enough to reach out and pull the flaps in to close it.

Adea stood up on her toes as she tried to reach out for the first wooden flap, but all she could do was nip it with the tips of her fingers. Letting out a sigh of defeat, she stepped away to pull her small nightstand over toward the window. The stand dragged loudly on the floor. In the back of her head, she hoped it would keep her sister awake for just a little while longer, but Lyda did not so much as move.

After dragging it into place, Adea climbed on top of her nightstand, being careful not to kick over the candle. Now she was almost too tall for the window and had to kneel so she could reach out and grab the panels. It was at this moment, however, that she noticed the unnerving scratching sound had stopped, but she did not feel relieved. Her mind told her to simply close the flaps, lock the window, and get it over with, but she could not resist as her instincts made her glance down the side of the cottage where she thought she heard the sound of the scratching. Now she was relieved when she saw nothing there. Perhaps Lyda was right. She was only scaring herself.

Adea grabbed hold of the flaps from the outside. Just as she did, her eyes stopped at the dark tree line about twenty yards from the cottage. She squinted when she thought she could make out a tall, black figure standing in the shadows, She shook her head as nausea crept up her throat, convincing herself that she was just seeing the trunk of a tree. That is, until she found herself staring directly at the unmistakable sight of two piercing, yellow eyes. Adea gasped in shock and forcibly pulled the window panels shut, struggling to lock it with her shaking hands as she tried to ease her heavy breathing.

"Why are you so afraid of the dark?" she heard her sister's voice whisper.

Adea was almost too scared to respond. She opened her mouth as if to say something before she was distracted by a creaking sound coming from behind her. She whipped around atop the nightstand, her blood running cold as she saw the bedroom door creaking open ever so slowly. A faint light like that of a candle seeped into the dark room.

Adea's eyes darted over toward her sister's bed. She was about to call her name, but her breath fell short when she saw that Lyda was not there. Her bedsheets were neatly made as though she had never gone to sleep tonight. That was impossible, Adea thought. She had just heard her sister's voice. She was speaking to her not a moment ago.

Adea focused her attention back on the door, which remained open only a crack. The light on the other side shimmered as though it was moving, like someone was carrying a candle down the hall, but she heard no footsteps. It grew dimmer with each passing second, as if moving away. Not wanting to be left alone in the dark, Adea leapt off the nightstand, whimpering anxiously as if something was waiting to snatch her from the shadows, and bolted for the door.

She threw the door open and ran out of the bedroom. The upper level of the cottage was made up of a short, narrow hallway, with Lyda and Adea sharing a bedroom on one side. Just opposite their room was a door which Adea knew opened into a large storage closet. At the far end of the hallway was their parents' room. The only other person living in the cottage was their father's sister, Mara, for whom they set up accommodation in the cellar.

Adea turned her attention toward the stairs to her left, leading down to the lower level. The candlelight continued to move away. She tiptoed down the stairs until she could see that the light was now coming from the kitchen to the right of the staircase. Adea followed, unable to breathe amidst her fear.

"Lyda?" she struggled to utter forth the name. There was no answer. Instead, Adea heard the light clanging sound of the back door, which led outside from the kitchen, as if somebody had just walked out.

Adea crept over to the kitchen window just beside the back door and anxiously peeked out. At last, she could see the person she had been following. They were indeed carrying a candle as they walked away from the house. It was impossible to tell for certain who it was, but it was clearly a girl around the age of ten. Adea let out a sigh of relief. She had no doubt it was her sister, Lyda, but what in the world was she doing?

Adea quickly opened the door and stepped out after her, barely wincing as her feet touched the freezing spring soil.

"Lyda!" she called softly as if trying not to disturb anything that might be lurking in the darkness. The girl bearing the candle did not react. She only continued to walk toward the black tree lines. The more Adea followed, the more a heavy pressure seemed to weigh down on her shoulders, but she kept going. It was almost as if a trance was beginning to come over her.

"Nightmares are a gift," the voice of her sister whispered again. It did not sound like it was coming from the girl ahead, but rather as if the voice was inside her head. "A blessing. Openings to the truth."

Adea was sick to her stomach. She tried to call her sister's name again, but she heard no words come forth, nor could she bring herself to turn around and run back to the house.

"The Light is sickness. Lies. Mere shells to keep the fragile safe from the Gift."

The girl stopped at the edge of the trees. Adea froze, now standing no more than ten feet away from her. She could barely feel her legs. Her blood was as cold now as the rest of her body. She watched as the girl reached up and touched her finger to the tip of the small flame of the candle, showing no signs of pain.

The girl rotated slowly to face Adea, who was relieved more than ever to see the face of her sister. Adea wanted to run over to her, if only to join her in the candlelight, but her thoughts were interrupted by the whispers again.

"This light is a lie," the voice said as if reading and rebuking her very thoughts. Adea watched her sister mouth the words, but the voice still resonated inside her head. As she spoke, she touched the ember again, this time allowing it to lick at her palm. Adea's jaw fell open as she watched Lyda drop the candle. The light instantly went out upon hitting the ground.

Lyda stood where she was, but now Adea could only make out the dark silhouette that was her figure.

"Why would you do that?" Adea asked in disbelief. The dark form of her sister only stared at her, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Lyda, I want to go back inside!"

"Don't leave me alone," Lyda's kind sounding voice continued to whisper. "Come with me. Step into the Darkness. Embrace the Gift."

Adea  had no control over herself as she inched closer to her sister. Lyda's form did not become any more visible the closer she got. It was painful to swallow. As she neared, Lyda outstretched her hand. Adea hesitated for a moment before reaching out to grab it.

Her hand felt unnaturally cold. It sent chills up Adea's spine. She shakily lifted her head to look into Lyda's eyes, which were still not visible to her even in the starlight, but she could hear her breathing clear as day.

"The Gift," Adea muttered curiously under her breath, "what is it?"

Lyda did not move nor answer for a brief moment. All noise around them had stopped, and the only thing Adea could hear was the beating of her own heart. Lyda suddenly tightened her grip on Adea's hand. Adea winced as her knuckles were forced together. She stared back up at her sister's face.

Lyda's eyes were not shrouded. They had simply been closed, and in an instant, they opened, revealing two piercing, slitted, yellow eyes; otherworldly and beyond the scale of Human eyes. Adea was frightened to her core, and in a deep, monstrous roar, the voice echoed through her soul, "I AM!"

Adea let out a scream of pure fear, unable to move, free herself from the monster's grip, or even look away from its terrible eyes.

Her horrid screaming followed her back to reality as Adea woke in an instant, thrashing about in her bed. Lyda jolted awake in her own bed, and seconds later, the bedroom door flung open as a man and a woman rushed in. Adea continued to scream, oblivious to their presence even as they called her name. The man turned out of the room and hurried back down the hallway. The woman knelt by Adea's side, placing a gentle hand on her forehead and calmly urging her to quiet down.

Adea's scream faded. She tried to regain control of her breathing as she stared up at the woman, her hair drenched in sweat. "M-Mother?" she squeaked hoarsely.

The man quickly returned with a lit candle in hand, a look of relief coming over his aging face when he saw his daughter had calmed down.

"Just another nightmare," the woman said to him, running her hand along her daughter's hair.

"It wasn't a nightmare," Adea sobbed. "It was horrible, and it felt so real."

"Shhh," the soft voice of her mother uttered. "It's nothing but a dream, dear. It will pass in time. There is nothing to be afraid of. There's nothing that can hurt you. Now try and go back to sleep." She gave Adea a sweet and caring smile. Adea said nothing, simply nodding her head. Her mother leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before standing up and following the man out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Adea pulled her blanket over her, shivering as it was soaked by her own sweat.

"I've never heard you scream like that before," Lyda's voice spoke up from across the room.

"I don't know what it was," Adea rasped as she stared up at the ceiling, "but I know it wasn't a dream. It was so scary, and I'd swear it was real. I don't know if I can go back to sleep."

Lyda lost herself in thought for a moment. It was not the first time her sister had experienced a nightmare. She had even had her own fair share of them. This, however, she knew in her heart was something else.

"You can sleep in my bed tonight if you want," Lyda offered kindly.

Adea's head snapped toward her sister. Without hesitation, she threw off her cold, wet blanket and hurried to crawl into Lyda's bed. Lyda draped the blanket over her to make sure she had enough, and then turned over to situate herself the other way.

"Adea," Lyda said quietly.

"Yes?"

"Everything is going to be alright."

With that, Lyda allowed herself to drift back to sleep. Adea felt no need to read into Lyda's words. She smiled to herself at the feeling of comfort after her dreadful nightmare, and she was about to close her eyes when they landed upon the sight of something that made her gasp under her breath.

Even in the darkness of the room, Adea could clearly see that the window on the center of the wall was closed, just as she remembered doing in her dream. Her eyes panned down and, to her horror, she could see the shrouded form of her nightstand sitting just under the window, exactly where she dragged it.