The Night Games

Alexander

Quiet but insistent the three knocks came and Alex glanced at the door, wondering who was on the other side. A shadow? Or an inventive human looking for a few allies? He crossed his arms and shuffled a little closer, passing through the crowd quite easily. No one else seemed to have noticed.

At the door, Alex set his back to it and reached behind with one hand, checking the handle. It moved. The door opened outwards just a little. Alex cast a wary glance about the room and then quickly exited, turning as soon as he was on the other side of the door and slipping two of his hidden blades from their sheathes, strapped to his arms below the loose cotton shirt.

"Well aren't you inventive?" a shadow said wryly. He was skinny and tall, taller than Alex anyway and his cropped auburn hair framed a pale face.

"More curious," Alex said, keeping his back to the door.

"Oh? Well they say that curiosity killed the cat." Alex smiled and drew his lips back, feeling his sharp canines press against them.

"Lucky I'm not a cat then, huh?" he said. The shadow watched him for a moment, both tense, both ready for a fight.

"Let the games begin," Alex said but made no move to attack just yet. He waited patiently, watching to see what would happen. He knew how shadow's minds worked. He'd killed enough. And he knew they generally had a powerful ability that was not to be trifled with. He'd found out the hard way that a fast approach didn't always work. And there was something different about this one. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Cynthia

A few familiar faces were scattered through the ranks of shadows but most of them upon seeing her edged away or ignored her completely. Even the younger ones, the shadows she'd played chase and hide and seek with just a few days ago were shying away from her glance. Sin decided to try and approach them. She liked a good challenge.

Weaving through the crowd of teenagers wasn't difficult. Most were looking lost and standing still, easily buffered to one side or another where necessary and others were huddling in groups that could be used for the purpose of cover. While hiding behind one such cluster, Sin spotted Sebastian standing at the side of the room, frowning a little and seemingly not participating in the name gathering. She tried to attract his attention but he had a vague, far away sort of look on his face.

"Hey," Sin called. He didn't turn. Others did and looked at her curiously. She grinned back, blowing kisses and smiling before setting off towards Sebastian with a determined stride.

"Have you seen Danilo?" she asked. Sebastian saw her for the first time and his eyes widened.

"Sin... what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Danilo invited me to join in the fun, couldn't refuse could I?" Cynthia said happily.

Wesley - Elvin - 17 - Night Lands


Something strange went through me when Cody had turned around, our eyes meeting for just and instance until he turned his head to look away from me again. Sighing and focussing my attention again on Brahn I shivered as two shadows walked toward us, ropes in their hands and when they said what they did about Brahn I wanted to utter a laugh.

"Well, you aren't very famous, now are you?" I said with a slight smirk and Brahn grinned a bit. The two of us got stares from older children around us and as I looked back to where Cody had been, he wasn't there and I continued looking for him, my heart beating steadily faster. Why are you so worried about a boy you don't even know, Wesley? The games haven't even started, get a hold of yourself, said that annoying voice inside me head but ignoring it like I always did I still searched the room for Cody, but now how would I find him with the other hundreds of creatures here.

"What are you looking at?" asked Brahn, a questioning tone in his voice.

"Nothing" I said simply and then layed my head on my knees, Why me... why here?, I asked myself and tears started to form in my eyes. Without looking up I knew someone was walking over to Brahn and me...

**Would someone mind striking up a conversation with Frost? She's awfully bored talking to her pet wolf...**

you can have her and Erin talk, if you want

Hi, I just recently joined and only just found the storybook section. I know it's a long shot but if I read all the posts am I allowed to join into the story?

-Ali

(ps. hi Kitty 15 )

Azrael


Azrael stared at the boy, he was shorter than him and had blue eys wchich seemed to pierce his soul. Azrael squinted, he looked familiar.

A memory of a girl with his face flashed through his mind. Azrael forwned and then it hit him, the girl had been his brother's friend! And had stayed with his brother until he died.

What was her name, he racked his brain, unsure why he was caring. He looked the wereman down and smiled.

"The games are wonderful aren't they?" he asked, he needed to be sure.

The guy's eyes narrowed, "No."

Azrael licked his teeth and took a deep breath. He clenched his eyes shut and his muscles tensed.

He brought the memory of the girl into his mind and breathed life into it.

It began to appear before him, he could feel it. The name of the girl flashed into his mind as well, Melanie.

The girl smiled and tapped someone on the shoulder, it was his brother, this was how they had met. Azrael could feel tears wellng in his eyes, Ballow.

His brother turned to her and smiled back, they began to talk, but this was a memory and Azrael had not heard there words. The memory which had been turned into reality faded away.

He looked at the teen, "Was that your sister? Melanie?

The teens eye's had become wide. Azrael was not crying, but bringing that memory back had been painful to say the least. He had to be sure, he wanted to help this person.

**Hey Chupatoasta, I posted a thing with Tara and no one's talked to her, so if you want you could be the person she meets.**

Alexander

Alex had thought he was prepared for any evil trickery a shadow could throw at him but not that, not that... He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat but he couldn't and his clammy hands wouldn't tighten around the hilts of his blades.

Her smile, so familiar, so small and yet enough to crack the fragments of his heart. The tilting of her head as she looked at that boy Who was he? the swish of her pretty, chestnut curls and her eyes... Only she could make the icy blue hues that they shared look so kind, so full of life.

"I'll kill you," Alex gasped, his voice small and tiny, no more than a breath of air but with such venom like the hiss of a snake, cutting through the air.

"And there was me thinking of helping you," the shadow taunted. Or at least, that was the way Alex perceived it to be.

"Did you kill them both? Did you watch them die and enjoy it?" Alex demanded, his voice only a little louder than before. And then he saw the change in the shadow. He was looking grim, almost torn. His eyes were wide and there was something about the angle of his face and the realisation hit Alex at once. He looked a little like that boy... like his sister's... friend? But how could that be? How could a shadow look like a human, be related to a human?

"I'm... I'm sorry," Alex said carefully, the words feeling unfamiliar to his tongue. How long had it been since he'd apologised to anyone? "Did... did you know her?" Alex spluttered desperately. "Did you know... Melanie."

Azrael


Azrael loked up slightly lost in painful memories, his soul feeling heavuer.

He swallowed and took a breath. Shaking his head he replied hesitantly, "I didn't know her. But I'm sure my brother did. I remember him knowing her. I saw Melanie once and that was it. I saw her when they started the Games last time."

Azrael wore a soft smile, remembering himself following his brother's captor's, persuing into the darkness and watching the Game unravel.

He had seen it all, being recorded being watched and being surveyed. He had been the only intruder for the that particular Games and so they had decided to warp him.

His eyes drifted to the teen's and he held out a skinny frail hand, "She might not be dead, she could be . . "

The end of his sentence might of been worse than dead, "She could be a shadow, like me."

Unsure whether this had comforted the other guy or not he held his pale hand out waiting for a hand shake.

Azrael smiled sadly, his thoughts still staying with Ballow and Melanie, "I'm Azrael. My brother was Ballow, he was the . . . the boy who was Melanie's friend."

The horrible image of his dead brother flicked through his vision and he ran the hand that wasn't waiting for a shake through his hair.

Rubbing his temple, he tried to clear his mind of it, but the memories which he had ignored for that painstakingly long time would not disappear.

He bit his tongue and looked up to the other shorter guy, Azrael re-stated what he just said, "I'm Azrael and I use to be human."

Cody

I moved and motioned Max to come with me, he followed.

"You don't ask personal questions much do you?" I said sarcasticly.

He chuckled. "Hope I didn't hurt your feelings." He joked back.

I bit back a laugh, "no, never. Have you ever been to the night games before?" I asked Max.

Brahn, 18, Night Lands


Brahn averted gaze from the figure advancing toward them and jumped to his feet as a large boom resounded all over in the room. He looked for the source, noticing small slits along the roof-line that were windows. The sound was coming from there, from outside.

"Does anyone know what that is?" He called out, noticing that everyone had gone still, and the shadows were gradually exiting the room, replaced by even bigger dark figures.

"The games have begun." Brahn looked across the room to see a girl standing up, a wolf tucked tightly to her side. An odd feeling came over him, making him slightly dizzy. He slowly got the courage to walk over to her, mesmerized by her looks, unafraid of the black wolf growling in a low, menacing tone.

"Hel-Hello," He stammered, surprised by his sudden lack of speech ability. "My name is Brahn."

"Frost." She replied, turning her head so that her left side was facing Brahn. She looked him over, placing her head back in a normal position when it seemed she was pleased, and Brahn noticed a cloudy substance over her right eye. She was blind.

"Your eye, what happ-" She cut him off with a cruel glare.

"It doesn't matter. Don't go treating me like I'm handicapped just because I can't see out of my right eye, either." Brahn was surprised at the tone in her voice. It had been a long time since he had felt this way, but the last time was different, that girl had felt the same way for him. He staggered as another loud boom sounded, shaking the entire room. Frost seemed to falter also, but backed off as Brahn reached out a hand to steady her.

"I guess this means the fighting is about to begin." He said, trying to hide the small tingle of fear in his voice. He was used to murdering, he was used to the feel of a blade digging deep into someones flesh, so why was he all of the sudden nervous?

Sebastian - Shadow - Night Lands

"Sin...What are you doing here?" I asked as the red-headed girl drew me back into the real world. I frowned, puzzled as to why she could be here and concerned as to what that answer would be.

"Danilo invited me to join in the fun, couldn't refuse could I?" Cynthia said happily, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and smiling at me as though nothing were wrong.

"You shouldn't be here," I stated, my voice already thick with defeat. Once you were here, there was no going back for the kids. She was trapped, and no amount of arguing and accusing could change that, so there was no use in even bothering.

Her head tilted to the side as her eyes silently questioned me.

"It's not safe. Do you even know where here is? Do you have any idea what's going to happen now?"

Despite my attempts to keep my voice down it managed to climb with each word, eventually breaking off as I cast my eyes around the room. I received a few odd looks from some of the kids nearby and hastily ducked my head.

"Do you know what's going to happen?" I asked again, my voice now almost a whisper.

Ilie - Half Elvin - Night Lands

I sat against a wall, my back pressing into the cold stone. People, or more appropriately, kids milled about me, some wandering aimlessly and others pressed together in huddled groups. Their whispers faintly brushed my ears, but I pushed the words out of my mind. Right now, I just wanted to think. Think of a way out.

Near me a pair were talking, their conversation only a few feet away. The girl, her red hair blazing in the dim light, practically danced up to the pale man who I would've passed off as one of those shadows except that he didn't look any happier to be here than I was while all the other shadows seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. His expression darkened as the girl drew him out of his thoughts.

The first bit of their conversation was hushed and I only caught a few words. Turing away again, I tried to block the two of them out and concentrate again on the escape plan I thought I had forming in my head, but a few loudly spoken words claimed my attention again. My eyes traveled back to the pale man, who finished his short rant and glanced around self-consciously.

I sighed and returned to my thoughts, determined not to let anything else distract me. The conversation beside me continued on much more quietly than before.

Then the booms began.

Wesley - Elvin - 17 - Night Lands

I watched as Brahn walked away from me and sighed then smiled to myself as the booms began, clearly announcing that the games had begun.

"Hello children" went the voice that echoed throughout the room, making everyone go silent the air cold. "As most of you have guessed, it is time for me to open the doors of and the games to begin... Might I warn you though" he paused and let out an evil chuckle, "the games are quite different this year, quite different indeed. You're all very talented and this is what we have hoped for, something about each of you is extraordinary and you'll find that some things in the games are soully to suit you own power. And no one will be able kill until the moon is at it's highest in the sky, any and all killings before then will end up in the murderer's sudden death, I will not repeat myself. Now, before any of you die of the suspense" he paused and chuckled again. "LET THE GAMES, BEGIN!". All of a sudden the room went dark and a piano started to play music that sent chills through everyone.

Great... Now your alone Wesley, perfect..., said the voice in my head and started to cry but stood up and braced myself to run. A horn sounded and the piano music stopped then the sound of a click and then a huge square lit up on a wall and then, we saw the sun. No one ran at first but we the first person did run, everyone ran out and into the open world of the Night Lands. The games had trully begun.

For some reason I stopped when I got to the open square and turned around, even being shoved by all of the running teens I looked for Cody, to make sure he got out safe.


{now the games have started guys, it's early morning and so it'll be a couple of posts before the moon will be highest in the sky and then you can start killing imaginary characters and then ask other people if you can kill the real characters, enjoy!}

Frost ~ 16 ~ Were/Vamp ~ Night Lands

I studied Brahn closely, suddenly remembering his statement. "So it is," my words were slurred together, making me wince slightly. Shinar's growling subdued slightly but was still noticeable. I shot him a warning glare and looked back up. He's quite handsome. I thought to myself, only to get yelled at by an certain annoying wolf.

'Don't you go thinking like that Frost! You know better! You aren't allowed to think like that. What if something happens like the last time?!' Shinar howled mentally.

"He's not like the last one. At least... he doesn't seem like it..." I thought back.

'Ah, is that not what you said about the last one? You said that his past was so great and that you doubted that he could ever do something horrid. Well, look where it got you Frost, here, in this room, waiting to be killed by someone stronger than you!' His words stung greatly. Anger coursed through my body as my left eye dilated and my long nails dug into my palms. Shinar suddenly realized what he said was wrong and shrunk away from my piercing glare. My right eye burned along with the three scars on my back, signaling that my temperature was rising.

A voice boomed from above, signaling the start of the games. I drowned out most of what it said except the part with nobody killing anyone till moon high. The sun blinded me momentarily but my eyes soon adjusted. I smirked over a Brahn before giving him a light smile. "I wish you luck, Brahn Ravahldar," and with that I was the first one out of the room, the others spilling out behind me.

Brahn, 18, Night Lands

"I wish you luck, Brahn Ravahldar." Frost said before he took off past him. Brahn narrowed his eyes. How does she know me... He shrugged, quickly looking around the room for a sign of his belt and swords. To his advantage, the shadow had left it on the far table when he had left. Brahn hurried over and grabbed it, repairing the belt by knotting both of the ends together. As he finished, he caught one of the others staring at him.

"My swords." He said to the boy, walking over to him. Brahn made every attempt right then to conceal his mind more thoroughly, bolting out into the open, searching for Frost.


{PS, Brahn needs his swords, they're the secret to his strength so to speak}