A story of mine.

SYNOPSIS:

The Darling Darklings

by

Gregory Barone

My life wasn’t always so dark and dreary; I am from a long line of mages that are quite known. At the start of my time, I have lived in the family’s ancestral mansion. There were magnificent gardens with many plants and animals roaming like unicorns and fairies. Each member had a home near the grand estate. The family has done great things and has, so I was told with rewards with vast treasures. I didn't know what they did to be wealthy. My father; the next head and mother came from another well-recognized mage group and soon were married and had me and my twin brother. They have put me up against my twin since we could cast spells. We had to show how effectively we could do the different magic arts they instructed us in. Sometimes I would beat him, and he had to do the test again. They trained us to live up to the reputation of the household. I would spend mostly in the mansion’s library reading the old spell books as my brother would go out and about the land exploring or wander the grounds. The night that it happened; I was around six and me and my brother were about to go to sleep. Some horrible creatures attacked our home. It’s as if they appeared from the very night itself. They were a multitude of sizes to them and they appeared black twisted silhouetted beings with crimson eyes and white sharp teeth. As they attacked; they killed off members of my family one by one I would later find. I can still hear their cries in my head. Me and my twin were near the garden when they came through the windows and doors. I was rushing with all my might; with me in the lead and my brother right behind me. Then; out of nowhere; one creature attacked him; he screamed with such pain that I felt it; I was so scared that I just kept running and I heard him scream my name as I ran. There was word that the creatures appeared in all the known realms. It caused the pathways to be closed. I got to a realm that wasn’t knowledgeable about magic but technology. I lived mostly from the generosity of the place of worship they had there, but things became dark. At my young age; I developed an ability to read people whoever I meet and knew their wants and needs, but all I saw in them was the darkness inside themselves; no matter who they are. It seems like they all want to get me and do horror able things to me. As if their spirit speaks wicked things to me. I sometimes see this little creature follow me wherever I go. It’s a small creature; with long bunny ears or antenna; a very short dark shadowy silhouette, and was quite like a stuffed toy I had back in the family mansion; with red eyes and white teeth. It was difficult to tell if it had bone structure. It would flop and wobble as it walked, and saw nails or small claws at the points of its small fingers. I would mistake people for it and screamed out being that I lost my sense of self. They took me to a place called an asylum. After a few days there, I meet a man who knew what I was. They sent him from another realm as a punishment for life. He told me to get more power and wealth. My family had summoned these same dark creatures so they would beat them back as to fake saving some realm or kingdom from the creatures. A few days after meeting him; they found him dead in his room. The gruesome manner of how he died hunted me for all the year I was there. I have spent time in the asylum, and even there the creature would peek around a corner and smile with its sharp white teeth; It had the face of that creature that had killed my brother that night so long ago. Every time I would see it; I started losing myself and just start screaming; They would drug me up and I would still see it. One night when they put me in the padded chamber; I pretended to be asleep and waited for the creature to come in; I jumped onto the creature and got my hands around its neck and started to choke it. And I told it I would not die without a fight and while I was choking it, it spoke my name, not in the voice I thought it would speak; it spoke in my brother’s voice.

“do you think you can kill me so easily?”

it said with a soft, hissing laugh

“Wait! What! How are you?”

“I discovered the family secret when I was studying a spell in the library. I hid myself in a corner and someone slipped out about how it was done and what book the spell was in and I could find it and I studied the spell. It was an enormous black leather book and one day, when I was free, I went to an old building that was on the edge of our land and got all the items that were needed. I cast that spell. It was a simple spell. I could summon a small darkling but by feeding it; it grew, soon it would spawn off small versions of itself. I then found a cave to keep it in. When I could bring some food for the darlings and sometimes find a creature to feed them too. When they became many, I gave them the order to kill everyone that night except me. To my surprise; you got away, and over the years I got stronger with my magic and I also bonded with the darkling’s and I am much more powerful, which made me able to track you down. I had a lot of fun scaring you to see if you would break, but the people here made that impossible, so now I’m inviting you to come back to the house”

“Why!”

“so we can see who is the best one now or should I kill all the friends you made here in this realm”

there was a stab in my chest when he said that

“how do you expect me to leave here and all the portals are closed?”

“in a few days a storm will come and all the lights will go out. There will be a mass confusion and you’ll go down into the cellar and in a corner you’ll find a small portal back”

I couldn’t believe what it said to me and my eye while tearing up. I looked away and was about to say something, but it was gone. A few days pass without seeing the Darkling and, just like he said, a storm came and all the things happened just like he said; it was total chaos in the asylum; got down the stairs without being seen, and I saw a faint red light that made a small square in the brick wall close to the stairs. The last few days after the darkling stopped showing up, I have asked myself.

“I know I cannot deal with him alone, just how am I going to beat him”

I knew how to beat him when I remembered something from a long time ago. Standing by the small square in the brick wall. I could see when I bent over and got my fingers in between the brick and mortar, the faint red light showed through. It opened simply and as I opened it, crimson red light shone from the small tunnel that was big enough for me to crawl through. So I crawled, and it wasn’t long till I felt and smelled the familiar smell of dirt and earth when I crawled into the small tunnel; I reached the end and everything was in a multitude of purple hues to it and a mist in the far distance. It seemed like it was night here? The trees, the grass, everything. I made my way to a field of tall grass and looked up and it shocked me to see the black sun and crimson red sky. Out of nowhere, I Didn’t see anyone, but saw a path made in the tall grass and walk for what seemed like a moment and found myself on a brick road.

I heard a voice “thisss way to massster” I jumped as I looked around and saw a darkling pointing up the brick road.

“come, come, masster isss waiting”

It said to me; it took me a while to get my nerve to want to follow it; I saw several buildings along the way. They were all ruined. Along the way, I realized they were the buildings and homes of the family. I was in the once beautiful valley but looked nothing like what I remembered. As I walked along with the darkling that was guiding me. Sometimes I saw red shining eyes in the tall grass and seeing what was once lush green trees were now black shadowed twisted forms reaching up into the blood-red sky. As we walked, I saw a bone of some poor creature on the brick road; I saw the skull of a family member; I let out a quick scream, and tears went down my cheeks.

“Letsss go, masssster isss waiting for you.”

The darkling told me, and we continued. Soon we came upon the mansion; we passed the front gate with tall grass on both sides of the cobblestone road. I remembered it went around a big water fountain in front of the mansion I would play in on the hot days of this once beautiful valley. The once beautiful mansion was nothing; but a ruined shell. The scattered shards of the windows lay among the cobblestones and when the light from the red sky shined on the shards; like a million eyes were looking at me as I walked over them. When we got to the steps leading into the mansion. I saw the big front door, and was covered with deep claw and cut marks; the darkling knocked on the door with the sound echoed through the mansion; The door creaked and slid over the marble floor of the mansion that was once my home. A darkling came out of the darkness and it had the look of a tall, curvy, but crooked lady.

“thisssss issss masssterssss sssissster, bring her to massster.”

The little darkling told the tall one; She got a better look at me by taking a few steps towards me. When it did so, I saw one very tiny red eye appear on its head. A few moments later, it wrapped one of its arms around most of mine and I felt a strange sensation from its touch; numbing, yet it was like it was both hot and cold. It quickly pulled me into the mansion. I couldn’t resist as it pulled me along; I saw when the light shone through the windows. Bits of the pedestals that held a statue or sometimes a vase littered the hallway as I was being pulled by the darkling. I remember the paintings that were hanging on the wall where nothing but torn; and even crushed wreaks of themselves as I passed them and the walls had claws and cut marks on them. It took me down the grand staircase to the lower levels of the mansion; and at the bottom of the stairs, the lights in the lower levels were a dim light; and much like the rest of the mansion. The darkling pulled me to a door, and we rushed in. A single candle was on a table and the room was dark, and then I heard my brother’s voice.

“Ah, welcome, my dear sister”

it came from the darkness as I stood there

“leave us”

The tall darkling nodded its head and in a flash, it disappeared and the door slammed shut. There was a moment of silence; and then he spoke.

“It has been a while, dear sister.”

He stepped into the light from the darkest part of the room. His face was a pale white and his eyes shined red like hot embers in a fire and his hair seemed long but as he got closer his hair; it looked as if his hair was a part of his body; he was tall and thin and the rest of his body was black like the darkling’s. With each step, he seemed to get taller until he was towering over me.

“There’s no point in running, dear sister. There’s nowhere for you to hide. The darkling’s will bring you back.”

He knew what I wanted to do.

“Do you know what room we’re in right now? We’re in the testing room when we had to test our magic ability. This is the only room I left intact in this whole mansion”

that realization hit me like it stabbed me in the chest with a long hot dagger

“This is where it all started and where it will end”

He grinned, and in that moment he made a red magic circle and binding circles appeared around my arms and legs and I couldn’t move

“Now you’ll know the pain I’ve felt all those years.” he grinned

“like hell I will”

“WHAT?”

“I’ve felt more pain than you have felt over the years. I’ve been away and you may have read from that black book but I have read from a white book and in that book it had the ultimate spell”

“WHAT!!!!”

And I said the incantation; the binding circles broke off me and a great white magic circle formed around me and my brother. A bright light filled the room, to there wasn’t a single shadow was. The circle then became a portal, and the very air that was in the room got sucked into it. The door of the room opened and the mist and the darkling’s flew and went down the portal and disappeared. Many of them did. In a moment everything went white and the last thing I heard was that of my brother crying out.

“NNNOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo….”

After I woke up, I saw light entering from the hallway. There was dim light coming from the top of the stairwell. I leaned on the wall as I went up them; through the halls to the great door. I Stepped down the stone stairs to the cobblestones. Overcome with so much emotion and weak that I fell to the ground. I cried and wailed and later I saw a glow even with my eye closed and lifted my face and seeing through my watery eyes; small balls of light in front of me; I brushed away the tears. They were glowing white flowers. They were the most splendid things I have ever seen during my years of suffering, pain, and anguish. One of them glowed brighter when I touched it. Not knowing how or why, maybe it’s because of the power from deep within me just finally broke loose. I ended it all by destroying my brother. All that misery I had inside me was gone and I sat on step; it was cold, but I didn’t let it bother me. The night sky was a brilliant star filled nebula and twin moons. Still somewhat teary eyed, I stared at the glowing flowers that came from my tears. I was content with myself and gave a short laugh.

“My darlings, my beautiful little darling’s.”

But soon; I realized that I would have to survive alone here in my home realm.

THE END