The Darkness Series: Book one, The Beginning

Chapter 11: Crushed

I looked around the floor wondering where the claw had gone. She couldn’t have jumped because people would have seen; she couldn’t have run because I would have felt her run by. So where did she go? I walked around the floor searching every nook and cranny seeing if she could be hiding someplace. But to no avail, she had disappeared. With a tightening in my stomach I clenched my fists and trudged through the hallway. With sighs and a sore neck I decided to go to the library to see if they had anything about the claws.

          “Axel wait!” Erick yelled as he rushed up to me. “How did things go with Sassy?”

          “She is upset with me…” I groan and walk down the stairs.

          “That sucks, so I called up some of my friends and they want to talk with you about our group. When is the best time for that?” He said to me as we passed the twenty eighth floor.

          “Any time and day is fine with me, how about tomorrow at seven.”

          “I will give them a call.” He tapped me on the back. “So where are you going?” He placed his hands into his pocket and marched with me.

          “No where, maybe the gardens to think.”

          “Mind if I go?” He said to me as we passed the twenty fifth floor.

          “Yea I guess, I have no one else to talk to, besides I should get to knowing you and Claude better.” I said back to him.

          “Well Claude is staying back in our room; he has his girlfriend over, Katharine. She is one of the ones that wants to fight.”

          “I can see her tomorrow, maybe.” I marched down more stairs and after a few minutes we were on the first floor and on our way to the gardens. “You should see the maze it is amazing.”

          As we neared the maze the sky started to become a bright yellow orange as the sun started to set. The aroma of flowers filled the air and I could already hear the slight babble of the water from of the fountain.

          “Let’s see who can make it to the center first.” I stood at the entrance, “On three…one…two…three.” We both dashed into the maze I went left and he went right. I took the right path last time so I will have to find a new way. I went left, right, forward, left, passed dead ends and crossed between archways.

          “I made it!” I heard Erick called to me from the center. I looked around and had no idea where I was. I could hear the water better so I must be close. I passed through openings, turned corners, went every way possible and finally found the beautiful fountain with Erick sitting on the side. “You took long enough.”

          “Ohh shut up.” I sat myself down on one of the stone benches near the fountain. The sun was setting below the trees and stars started to appear.

          “So what did you want to know about Claude and I?” He turned toward me from the fountain.

          “Well I want to know more about Desmon, what was he like?”

          Erick’s eyes twinkled and I saw him tense up a little, I couldn’t imagine loosing someone that close to you. It would be one thing to loose someone older or younger, but someone who bares your face.

          “Desmon was kind, he was shorter than Claude and I but he was tough. He liked trouble, and he rarely was caught. Desmon changed, after they experimented on him the effects took a while to take the toll on him. The first thing weird that happened was our dog went missing.”