Grave of the Shadows (Starting!)

Alexa Noel

I was sleeping when suddenly the darkness got so big I felt like I was drowning. I only had one little blanket, but I felt like it was suffocating it. Outside it was dark, and I felt so scared. I could imagine footsteps of people coming to take us like they had done to our parents. I wandered to find Caleb, sometimes he could make me feel better. Instead when I entered his room it was empty. His blanket was gone, probably draped around someone else. We always gave away stuff, trying to make things easier for everyone else, even though that just made it harder for us, so someone else would have to give up something... it was a big cycle that no one could stop.
I saw one of Caleb's shirts laying on the floor, and put it on over my torn dress. For a while I sat there, wondering where he had gone and why. Actually, I didn't need to wonder why. He just needed to go out, we all did. Maybe in the morning I would ask him to take me somewhere. Liam would try to stop us, but he would understand and would have to let us go. I curled up in the corner, feeling completely alone and swallowed by the darkness.

Reyna Lennar
I sit on this uncomfortable chair for almost an hour, then stand up. I feel sad, and I feel lonely. Turning, I see Celeste going down the stairs. I have to talk to her, or I'm going to burst. I start walking towards her, and she sees me.
"Uh, Celeste... I- I need to talk with you..." I say, looking at the floor.
"Oh, sure. Why don't we sit down." she says. We both sit down, and she asks, "What's on your mind, Reyna?" I breathe in. I know I have to tell somebody, but I don't know who I can trust. I decide to trust Celeste. She's the only one right now I feel I can talk to.
"Celeste, I- I'm sorry. I've been really, well, dark I guess. I'm sorry." I say, then turn away, so that she can't see the one tear that rolled down my cheek. "I'm sorry." I whisper again. "I'm sorry... I am sorry for not eating. I'm sorry for not being grateful... I'm sorry for- for... everything." I say. I turn away again, and let the streams of tears roll down my cheeks. "I'm too sad," I say, "and I don't know what do do... I don't have anyone... I just don't have anyone..." I say, sobbing. Celeste stands up, and hugs me tightly. I feel protected in her arms. Looking up at her.I know I can't ever change... Somehow, I just know. She hugs me, her own tears of relief sliding down her cheeks. I wipe my face, and stand up. "Thanks. That helped."
"Yeah, that's okay, Reyna." she says. I see she needs some time alone. I tell her to go rest. She needs the sleep. I go outside and sit in the cool air. The anger seems to have left me, but I know it will be the same tomorrow. I will still be-- me.

Celeste Connors

After seeing her cry...I was crying too. Of course I could forgive her. I'll help her through this. She told me to go get some rest and I nodded, heatitantly laying back down and closing my eyes.

You can do this, Celi. Be strong...

Justia Connors
My sleep is peaceful, until I start dreaming. Suddenly, I wake up, choking for air! I can't breath. I feel like some evil hand has me in it's tight grip! Coughing, I stand up.
"Celi." I try to scream, but nothing comes out. "Celi!" I panic. "Help!" I scream, but no noise comes out. "Help me." Then everything goes black. Now, I wake up again. How can I wake up twice?? I look around. Everything seems normal. Suddenly, again, my breath leaves me. I choke. I put my had to my throat. I cough. I run down the stair. "Celi. Help!" But to my horror, it comes as a whisper. I find her sitting on a chair. I whisper "CELI! Help me!" I start coughing again, and my stomach churns. She sits upright.
"Justia!! Your face is blue! What's wr-" she cries in alarm. I run out of the house, and there, throw up. I cough, and start crying. I'm completely terrified!
"Celi!" I scream. Then, I throw up again. Suddenly, I feel really dizzy. I sit down, and the world turns up side down. Suddenly, I black out.

Spoiler

Justia is VERY sick. Part of it is that she might have gotten rust bacteria in her because she scraped her foot in a rusty nail sticking out of the floor. She's not used to this kind of breathing problems, so she throws up and gets dizzy. These are just side effects of the rust. I'm sure someone can make up a home remedy to fix it. I'm not going to make her die, but she's going to be a bit sick for a while. She also is a bit feverish.

Jackie

I waited outside for Caleb, pacing back and forth in the snow. My shoes were really too thin for this kind of weather, but I couldn't leave him alone out here. He could be reckless, and if I took my eye off him even for a few seconds...

Then I heard a noise, coming from upstairs. The dim light of a candle flickered on in one of the rooms--Justia's, I think--and someone started shouting.

"Come on, Caleb," I said, pulling back inside by the wrist. I pushed him inside, slammed the door closed, locked it, and raced upstairs--

Only to be knocked over by someone coming down. I tumbled to the bottom, where I lay for a few seconds, stunned. Then another set of clumps came down the stairs. I rolled out of the way just in time to dodge Celeste, who came flying down the stairs at full tilt.

I got up and ran outside after Celeste. Outside, Justia had collapsed in the snow. I skidded to a stop behind Celeste. Justia was a sickly...blue color, her breathing quick and shallow.

"Come on, Celeste," I said, shaking her shoulder. "We have to get her inside."

Celeste Connors

Justia wasn't breathing right and I started freaking out.

"C'mon." I pick her up out of the snow and bring her inside setting her by the fire. I made her drink some water.

"It'll be alright, Justia. We'll have Liam take a look at you. Alright?" I ask, crouching infront of her.

Tess

After Kyle bid me a good night, I left the room and settled down into my bed. My "bed" as I put it was just a blanket with some holes; on the ground. Sighing to myself I curled up and laid there, staring at the wall. I sit there wishing that someone would come tuck me in like Justia and Jazz, but no one comes. Turning to my other side, I finally let sleep take me in it's grasp.

Regrettably, I find myself awake not even an hour later. For about the next hour I toss and I turn, trying to get conformable, but to no avail. Slowly, I sit up and sigh. I know that most of the other's are probably asleep by now, so I don't even bother to get up. Suddenly, I hear hurried footsteps down the hallway, heading toward Justia's room and then come back through. Curiosity gets the better of me, so I climb out of bed and start to head toward Justia's room.

Once, I get there, I automatically freeze. Fear courses through my veins and I can't seem to move. She is laying there, her breath is labored and she is paler than normal. "Justia?" I whimper slightly, slowly making my way toward her. Right as I make it to the other side of the bed, the sound of running footsteps comes down the hallway.

Anna Noel
After my little conversation with Jackie and Caleb I used one of the windows in the back of the mansion to climb to the roof so i could clear my head and… I fell asleep.
I woke with a start and almost fell of the roof in the process. I caught myself just in time to avoid possibly fatal injuries.
The haze of sleep immediately disappeared when I heard a scream.
Justia? I thought.
I got up carefully and made my way down slowly but with urgency. I took off my shoes, who’s soles were covered with a layer of ice, when my feet touched the ground. As soon as I got my balance back, I broke into a sprint in the direction of the commotion which now seemed to be Justia’s room.
As I ran, my semi wet/ semi frozen clothes clung to me making shudders rake up my spine. I stopped short at her door and opened it. I was greeted with the sight of a extremely sick looking Justia and Tess’s horror struck expression.
She needs a doctor, I thought grimly as I knelt beside her.
I grasped Tess’s hand silently, she jumped slightly from the cold. I gave her a one word apology and made my way towards Liam’s room with Tess in tow.
We might have to head out tonight.

Spoiler

Feel free to let me know if I got something wrong, so I can fix it .

Celeste

Justia layed there, her head in my lap. I put my hand on her forehead and she was burning up. She totally had a fever. I looked up at everyone, Tess looked as if she was the same way, choked for words, and Anna ran to go find Liam.

"Do you want me to sing to you?" I ask her, calmly.

She still grips her neck and nods.

"Don't speak, Justia. I want to to get better, your gonna hurt yourself." I chuckled.

"Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
No, no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up."

I sang to her a song my parents used to sing to us...But she never go to hear it.

She starts coughing again and I calm her. "Don't worry, We'll get a doctor."

Spoiler

Sorry I haven't posted in forever... I'm kind of having trouble keeping up with everyone.

Rodr

I could hear noises sounding around the house. Then I thought I heard Justia scream. I rose and started towards the sound just in time to see Anna and Tess coming and step out of the way; they had the determined air of people on a mission.

I moved silently through the house until I found the source of the commotion; there were my sisters, Justia lying deathly pale, her head in Celeste's lap. Celeste's voice carried over the snow, singing. I knew that song - it was the song our parents used to sing us.

"I won't let nobody hurt you," Celeste sang,
"Won't let no one break your heart,
No, no one will desert you,
Just try to never grow up, never grow up."

They broke the promise, I thought, not really angry but more reflective. They died - they left us - and they broke... My heart. No. I had to harden it. Maybe they had broken it once, but I wouldn't let anything break it again - there was no room in this world for broken hearts. So I had to harden it, like a rock. I had to be strong. Because I had grown up - I'd broken my promise as well.

Justia coughed weakly - she sounded deathly ill. "Don't worry," Celeste said. "We'll get a doctor."

I stepped out from my place in the door - neither of them had noticed me yet now, but now a floorboard squealed under my feet and Celeste looked up. "How can I help?" I asked.

Spoiler

Sorry for the long post... this is kind of to establish character a little.

Liam Knightly

Spoiler

Sorry it took so long for me to get here! Pixie, ironically I was listening to that exact song as I read that... go taylor swift!

I ran into Justia's room, where Celeste had wrapped her in as many blankets as could be found and was singing. The song struck a chord in all of us, we knew who the original singers had been. I didn't dwell on it, instead pushing Celeste aside and laying a hand on Justia's forehead. Her breathing came out in gasps and her eyes were shut tightly. I could tell she was dizzy and would throw up anything left in her stomache if she stood.

"Remember when Tess got sick?" I murmured, not talking to anyone in particular. "Father used a spell that made her feel better. It wasn't much, but it could give us time." No one answered, but Celeste began to push the others out of the room, knowing the spelll required extreme focus and concentration. Rodr refused, and instead he posted himself by Justia's side. I didn't mind, I knew he would never leave his sister, and I knew all the other Shadow Children were waiting at the door. With a deep breath a knelt down and began whispering to Justia. My voice rose and fell in an erie tone that made Celeste draw away. We had been taught to avoid magic, as it was usually related to the king and his infamous Nights. However, doctors required time and skill. We had no time, and most of the doctors in the city had no skill.

The spell had the desired affect. Justia began to breath a bit more easily, and her skin lightened a little bit. Rodr bit his lip, glancing at me as if asking whether I could try again and see if that would bring a better result. I shook my head.

"Doctors can't do this, especially now I've done this spell. We need a magician. There's one..." my heart began pounding and I clenched my fists. I felt torn. Justia needed help, and there was only one person I knew of that could do it. But to go... to ask our greatest enemy for help? "I need to go," I said, my voice rising though I tried to sound calm. "I need to go; she needs help."

Jackie

I stood in the doorway, trying not to breathe too loudly, while Liam knelt next to Justia and started whispering a spell. Celeste shrunk back, her eyes wide. I felt a cold chill run down my spine. Magic was a tricky thing--it wasn't evil, necessarily, but we weren't exactly its greatest fans. Magic was easy to corrupt, easy to use for evil things, as demonstrated so proficiently by the Nights. None of us liked to use it. Justia must have been really sick.

"I need to go," Liam said. "I need to go; she needs help."

"I can go, too," I volunteered. Liam couldn't go alone. Ideally, Celeste would go, too, but Justia would want her to stay. Plus, it was always best to split up Liam's and Celeste's experience--protecting the other kids at home would be equally important here.

"I can go," I repeated. "Jazz'll be fine on his own. I can go."

Liam Knightly

I nodded at Jackie. I could see the desire in her eyes, and I knew it was never smart to wonder the city alone. Especially tonight. Especially wandering to the deepest part of the city. Especially with my current emotional instability.

I glanced at Jackie; I knew I needed a companion but I wasn't sure if she should come. She was so small, and had that same broken look that all of us did. I knew she would press me to let her accompany me even if I found someone else. Then I remembered Jackie's ability with speech. She knew how to talk, press her ideas, make people listen. I would need a lot of convincing to even make the wizard give me a few minutes, and then I would need to hope he didn't know who we were. A Night would never help a Shadow. But perhaps, perhaps he would help a fellow citizen of his city?

"Alright, Jackie, you can come. The rest of you, stay here, watch out for each other. Rodr, don't leave Justia. Alexa, take Tess and Jazz somewhere, and try to keep them out of sight. If any of you have been seen, if any one knows your face and would relate you to the Shadows, then you also need to hide. The man who will come here cannot know that we are the Shadow Children. Celeste, take care of them."

I led Jackie outside, where a new feathery snow was falling. I lifted the hood of my cloak as did Jackie. Quickly, I fell into the shadows, gliding through the snow coated world towards the palace, the home of the Nights.

Anna Noel
All of us, except for Celeste and Rodr, were pushed out of the room as liam began to chant the spell. I moved away immediately and leaned back against the wall. I was only a little distance away from everyone else, so just like them I could hear what was happening in the room. I shivered involuntary, partly because of the cold but mostly because of the spell.
I didn’t like magic. It’s not that I have something against it, but I was just taught to avoid it, just like the rest of the kids here.
I sighed when the chant came to an end, but relief was yet to come. I hoped that the spell would help Justia. Justia makes me see how Alexa might have been if she hadn’t seen the things she did…
"I need to go," I heard Liam say. "I need to go; she needs help."
"I can go, too," Jackie volunteered. Of course Liam can’t go out alone.
"I can go," she said again. "Jazz'll be fine on his own. I can go."
I pushed myself off of the wall and made my presence known.
“I want to help too.” I said and they both turned towards me.