Endings: Book One

Shadows Around Us

The darkness may as well be the light itself. It is not disguised, our perception of it may be based on what we want it to be rather than accepting our minds may be deceiving us.

-Adrian Legacy, Scars to behold .

The leather shoes tapping gently on the stone pavement as they passed through were brightly polished. So elegantly scrubbed that one may argue they actually glowed in the darkness around them. The wearer of said shoes was no different. Dressed in a fine italian suit, gelled hair, pursed lips and dark eyes, he too strode confidently through the darkness as it easily evaded him.

As he walked past the lengthy corridor he dared not look at the doors embedded on its sides. He knew better.

His motion was focused, rhythmical and precise. He did not move to the right nor did he slighly shift to the left. His immaculate nature was an incredible sight, through years of hard-nurtured discipline and reverence he had perfected his form and stride. He knew all too well the essence of taking care of one's physical appearance and the effect it brought to the intended people. It had been essential to his line of work, one he'd sacrificed so much to be where he was at the moment.

I must not forget.

However, these outstanding features and sacrificial background could not be used to describe the man walking closely behind him, desperately clinging on for dear life. His hurried steps and uncontrolled pants clearly indicated this was the first time he'd been in the building. At the moment, his mind was clearly in shambles and had not fully grasped what he had just seen and heard.

Especially those rooms...

"Relax, will you? Tu respiración pesada me está poniendo de los nervios" his host muttered drawing the man's attention back to the man leading him to uncertainty.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that-"

"I said" he began as he stopped slowly to look at his guest. "There's nothing to worry about. You'll be out of here in no time."

Pretty sure that was the plan.

The bulk guest drew his coat tighly around him as if the words rather sent a chill down his spine than bring heartwarming reassurance. There was a smell... he couldn't quite place it. It filled the entire hallway the moment he'd stepped out of the elavator. It wasn't distinctive rather it would seem like a vile combination of foul scents that crept from the rooms beside them. There was a burning scent at some point... he still couldn't place it though. And he didn't want to.

The host smiled as he noticed the expression on his companion's face and put a hand on his shoulder. "As long as what you say is true and the big man believes it. You're good to go" his eyes had no emotion in them. Nor did they depict any ounce of sympathy or kindness.

They were just dark. Cruelly dark.

The reassured only noded. For he had no words to say. In fact, he'd probably lost his ablility to speak upon entering the first set of doors to see the disturbing scene before him. Up until then he had come face to face with a reality worse than his nightmares. The images refused to leave his mind nor did the shock his system.

What if the truth isn't what he wants to hear. What if it isn't enough.

He pondered his questions rapidly in his mind. How far had he come to deliver the information he'd so desperately cultivated. He had picked a side, was he even sure it was the right one. He hardly even knew the man whose side he had chosen. But a far more excruciating choice lay before him if he failed to get the "big man's" attention. He had always thought himself to be clever, and that having information had kept him alive all this time. He never lost sight of the bigger picture though, his survival and welfare was the only thing that mattered even if it meant betraying those close to him.