Dawn of Night

[RoryN]

As darkness crept into the world above, the denizens below roused from their slumbers. Black things creeping with claws and bristling hides, different shapes and sizes, each with their own unique brand of grotesqueries, but all of them consistently humanoid. Fur, skin and scales were multicolored, bright, flaming reds and iridescent mixtures of purples, browns and greens in the glow of the caverns of their home. But as they crawled up the spindling stairways, hopping and hissing quietly, the transition to the air of the world above blackened their bodies, turning them into living shadows.

Every dawning of the night, they made this journey, given permission to pass through the doorways by their Lord in the kingdom of Shadow. But this night, they'd been sent on a special mission, given specifically by their Lord, Locke. So as the stairway leveled out in a twisting corridor, hundreds of veined pathways breaking off of it on the left and right, they ignored the small byways, heading straight for the one that they were directed to go through. The swarm broke from the corridor down the path, green, glowing cracks slicing through the ground until they reached the end. A flat surface of stone, parting like swirling living matter before the first of the group.

On the other side, the darkened closet grew several shades darker, a soft crackling emitted from the back wall as the darkness grew and spread over the wall like an infection rotting it away. And the living shadows crept from it, the passageway clotting and sticking to them wetly before they each broke free to stand at the closet's entrance. Further in the room, under the bed, a multitude of hissed whispers issued forth, a hundred other creatures crouching beneath it. Waiting for their prey.

Waiting to do their Master's bidding.

 

[Tristeza]

Away from the dangers that lied in waiting, in the safety of the bright, electrical light of her living room, Penelope Hendricks was finishing watching a movie on tv. It was part of her little ritual after she got home from work. Do a bit of the house chores, make dinner, phone her boyfriend. From then on, it could either be going out with him, having his company home or, more often than not lately, watching a movie by herself. Little ruses to either not having to sleep alone... or to delay the time when the young nurse had to go into the darkness of her room.

No one had believed little Penelope back in the day. Parents, friends, even the shrink she was once taken to see because of the drawings the young children made and her claims of 'things in the dark'. In time, the little girl came to accept it, the indifference of others, despite the continuous scares and spooks during her bed time. When Penelope's plushies appeared all shredded though, her parents thought it a good idea to give her a presence light and, for the first time then, the child could sleep peacefully. Time passed, and the young girl kept her presence light on, from childhood to teenhood. Until college time came. Her dorm mate wasn't particularly keen on it... and neither were her boyfriends... so Penelope faced the fact that it was time to drop it... and that maybe, just maybe... those nightly terrors were simply... imagination. Yet, be it conscious or not, the fear of the dark still lingered in the young woman's mind to the day. No more had strange creatures assailed her in the night since her childhood... but sometimes, Penelope could swear to herself that there was someone, something watching her from the shadows.

The brunette yawned, jolting awake from her light slumber. Was she that tired, was the movie nothing special? Probably both... she thought, sitting on the couch and stretching her small figure. A tanned hand rubbed her green eyes, brushing the sleepyness away just for long enough time before getting to bed, and move to scratch the long mess of dark brown, almost black curls that cascaded down to her mid back. It was a warm summer night, so Penelope wore only a black lace thong (in a vain hope they'd actually been taken off, but nooo...) that showed under the large, baggy t-shirt the young woman wore as she headed for her bedroom, concealing most of her upper feminine hourglass frame.

A subtle shiver ran down Penelope's spine as she opened the door to her bedroom, snapping her from the hazy mist of slumber for a moment. Was she being... watched? Oh no, just left the window open... Something in the back of her head was still tingling when she dove into the inviting comfort of her bed though. Penelope's eyes swept through the darkness, trying to make out anything in its midst. Nothing. She was just... imagining things again... And, with that uneasy thought, her eyes shut into sleep.

 

[RoryN]

The legion of creatures had no name, but were collectively called, They, by Their Master. Being emissaries of the dark world, Their eyes pierced the darkness as Their prey entered the room, seeing every curve of her body and sway of her clothing and hair. Those that huddled in the closet, crouched in preparation as her scent and the sound of her beating heart sounded in Their ears, those further back, still waiting in the cavern jostling the ones in front excitedly. When those under the bed felt the weight of a new form laying upon the mattress, They tried to keep Themselves quiet in Their excitement. Even though They shared a sentient parentage with their King, most of Them were little more than dumb animals and the thrill of the hunt reduced Them to the most primitive desires. This scenario was familiar. Darkened room. A child in bed. And the game of coaxing delicious fear from the fragile being.

This wasn't a child and They knew this. They'd been given a specific mission and were not to delay. They knew this as well. But the surge of energy that wafted off of her - that uncertainty and trembling primitive response to threat - was enough to seduce Them into responding to it like They did in millions of other homes every single night.

The smallest They crept from beneath the bed, silent on small clawed feet, too short to be seen from over the mattress. Slithering along the edges of the room, They strategically waited for her to turn in the opposite direction before darting further, nothing but fleeing shadows against the wall. Drawing a haunted gust of wind from the open window, They forced the bedroom door to slam shut and waited.

 

[Tristeza]

There was... something. Penelope could feel it, bothering her from the far reaches of her mind. A frown weighed upon her slumbering face, mirroring the anxiety within. Bad dreams? Bad thoughts? Or bad memories? One of those, at least one, for certain, pestered the sleeper the enough to breach through the relaxation of sleep. The ceaseless shifting was yet another sign of the mental discomfort. Penelope too had felt the signs, and once again been transported to the room of the little girl, what had previously felt like so long ago so terribly vivid within her scarred mind. The pressure of society had forced her to disregard the one beacon of peace that was the safety light and rest in deep darkness. Amidst her troubled dream of memories, the young nurse found herself wishing to have ignored such pressure. When her suple body turned its back to the creature lurking within the shadows, unbeknownst to her, it was already to late.

First came a shiver, a deep shiver that chilled Penelope to her core, a trembling wave swooping down her spine. Then, the door.

It snapped the woman straight off her sleep, jolting awake in a jump that even threw off her pillow to the side of the bed. Wide, panic riddled eyes swooped through the room frantically, before her brain put two and two together. Open window. Open door. Air current. Yet, why wouldn't the heart stop racing, almost deafening her from within? And why did her room look... so dark? Did it always look that way? A shaking hand slowly reached for the cast aside pillow while Penelope's eyes remained on the closed door. She was just imagining things... like always...