A young man stood at the top of a high rise building, a black skull-shaped amulet in his hand, held tightly. The back of his leather jacket is dimly lit but visible. On it is an imprint: SHADOW, with a black dragon head, all smiles. He exhales briefly and says, "finally, the totem of the undead." "I should have some real fun with this."
Suddenly, a bright light shone behind him momentarily. Expecting the demon whom he just tricked, he spun around, shocked to have been so quickly found. As soon as he laid his eyes on his visitor, however, his eyes relaxed, returning to their usual smiling appearance.
"Light...what brings you here? A game of cards perhaps?" he said sarcastically. "Maybe in another thousand years Shadow, just maybe."
She said. "I'll be waiting." Shadow said with a brief chuckle.
Light cleared her throat and began, "Once more, Cain is in dire need of our help. The Enochian Order is upon him, stronger than anything he's ever faced. He's in real danger."
"And I was having some real fun before SOMEONE turned up." Shadow said flatly. "Look", he said. "I don't give a damn about Cain or his petty troubles."
Light began to stroll toward him. She spoke softly when she said, "Please, Shadow."
"We must make true the prophecy. If we let the dons and daughters of Enoch have their way, it will be disastrous." Shadow stared at her briefly then grinned widely, "Yada, yada, yada. Quit your yapping missy. You almost sounded a bit cute there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some fun to attend to." He held up the amulet so she could see it clearly.
Her eyes widened. "Catch me...If you can." he said and jumped over the edge of the building, his laughter echoing in the wind. Slowly, she walked towards the edge and leaned over. He was gone. Gone with the wind.
* * *
Cain walked slowly into his bathroom with a velvet bathrobe and a plain expression on his face. The sound of the shower could be heard faintly through the shut door. Shortly after, he walks out to the bathroom, toweling his now ruffled hair as he walked. He stood in front of a clear mirror and stared at his reflection while his mind went deep, lost in thought. In his recollections, he found an old cabin in the woods, but very far from the manor. He had his finest tools and weapons there. He snapped back to reality and grinned, finally observing his image. "I haven't aged a day have I?" He said. He styled his hair in his usual manner, then walked to his closest and selected a grey turtleneck sleeved-sweater, a pair of black pencil trousers and his usual black shoes. He took up a white jewelry box and reviewed its contents; a silver lion amulet, a silver analog watch and his lion ring. He put them on one at a time. When he was done, he walked out of his room and headed down the stairs to his living room. He turned away from the main door and headed towards a large portrait of Queen Victoria. He ran his fingers along its bronze frame and pushed it backwards. The frame lens backward to the left, revealing a flight of stairs winding downwards into the darkness. As he takes a step into the darkness, candles are lit ominously on both sides of the staircase, each one identically spaces from the next. He proceeds to walk quickly down the stairs, both hands in his pockets. Soon, he arrives at the bottom of the stairwell. Below lies a cave-like structure housing a covered structure. Clearly, this is some kind of garage. He walks up to the covered structure and throws off the black cloth covering it, casting it to the side. Illuminated by the distant light of the candles is a car, stark black in colour, A Silver GT3rs. He opens the door and steps in to turn it on and commence his drive straight ahead, into a dark tunnel a few meters away from the parked spot. A few moments into the tunnel, he makes a sharp right bend, avoiding a dead-end wall, an opening at the end of the tunnel is revealed. He switches the radio on to hear the indistinct chatter of the early morning news. He drives speedily towards the opening, a grey raccoon looks up, startled, and scurries to the left as the car rushes past.
Emerging out of the tunnel he sped on, along a lonely asphalt road. On both sides of the path are lengthy pine trees, swaying from left to right in the early morning wind. The first rays of the sun emerge from the corners of some trees, striking the top and side of the car, casting a bright reflection of light on the car paint, complimenting its stark darkness. As he drums his fingers on the steering wheel, he glances at his watch, clipped firmly on his left hand. "7:24", he says, barely above a whisper. Notching up his speed, he drove on.
* * *
The car slowly came to a slow halt beside a narrow path. Cain turned off the engine and alighted. After a 15-minute walk into the woods, he strayed from the path a bit and stood at the front of two oak trees and stared intently at the space between them. He took two steps forward and placed his hand in the space. It gave off ripples, like a pool of water.
Casually, he walked straight through the ripples and emerged inside a small cabin. All around him were weapons of all kinds hung on the walls; axes, Great Cleaves, swords and spears...the likes of that. He turned left and stride to a white door. Opening the door, he found nothing but a dark abyss.
He baller his left hand into a fist and thrust it into the room. The lion-shaped ring glimmered in the dark. The white gem of the lions eye shone into the darkness. "Unveil" Cain said.
Immediately, the darkness in the room fell like a curtain, revealing a woodwork room with a small briefcase, standing at the center of the room's floor. He walked up to the case and knelt beside it, opening it as he did. Some blood trickled down his hand onto the case's handle. He felt his arm and noted the bite marks that left deep holes in his skin. Slowly, he felt them heal. He stared into the contents of the case.
The case contained a black foam padding. At the left side was a row of five small slots, four containing silver rings, the last slot empty. These rings are the Five agonies. He wore one of them currently, the Agony of the Beast(Lion); wielding the power to create and destroy, at a price. Each ring held a price for the wielder to pay at every use. The second slot held the ring of the first pharaoh(serpent); wielding the power of the Gods of Egypt. The third slot contained the ring of Zeus himself, with his hawk symbol mounded on it. This ring grants its user the strength of the Gods of Olympus. The fourth slot held a cross shaped ring, able to summon men and women of the Bible and holy times. The last slot held a small clock shaped ring, belonging to an old wizard Cain once defeated. This one could grant its user total control of space and time.
Cain smiled at the rings and put them all on, in addition to his Lion ring. At the right side of the case was a silver bracelet of thin width and hard edges. It was the weapon master; A forbidden item that could manifest into a weapon of its wielders choice. Cain took it from its place and clipped it onto his hand, in place of his watch.
He closed the case and stood up, leaving the way he came. He found his way back to the path, continuing his stroll until he got back to his car. He began his drive back to the manor but somewhere along the line a lady waved him down from the side of the road. As a sign of courtesy, he slowed down and rolled down his window. The lady was tall, dark haired and pretty. She has deep black eyes and pale skin that made her red lipstick stand out. She wore a black dress that showed off her mature shape.
She spoke in a sing-song voice:
"Hello handsome...I think I've lost my way...Can I get a ride?"
She pouted her lips and stared at him like a little girl would at her father. His instincts told him to roll his window up and drive off but ... what did he have to lose? He opened the car locks from the master switch, allowing her to get in. He continued driving and asked nicely:
"So where exactly are you headed?"
"WE, you mean", she said with a giggle and continued; "As much as I'd love to stay and carry on with the chitchat, I have work to do. By the way, no one told me you'd be so good looking, CAIN...I'm almost second guessing".
As soon as he heard his name he made to summon a blade from the weapon master but he was a bit faster in movements, she pricked him in the neck with a black needle and then(she) burst into a swirl of black roses.
Black streaks of veins travelled from the point of injection to the rest of Cain's body. He pulled out the needle and flicked it to the side. He looked ahead and tried to remain focused but found himself losing control and consciousness gradually.
The car swerved uncontrollably to both sides of the lonely highway before posting its center of gravity and spinning off its wheels, rumbling along as it went. The sound of shattered glass and freaking metal filled the silent early morning. The car stopped its motion upside down where Cain could be seen bleeding at his forehead and ears through the shattered windshield.
" what....is happening to...me? Blood? That's not...po...ssible!" He struggled to stutter as he tried to keep his eyes open and remain conscious. He saw his attacker cat walking towards the crash site though his vision was blurry. She pulled out a phone and dialed a number, the phone rang momentarily and sounded a brief beep.
"Hello....911! I have an emergency..." She screamed and talked quickly, pretending to be frantic . He could no longer hear what she was saying, he stared at the pool of blood beneath him in disbelief. His last thoughts were coated in mixed emotions.
"Is this how it ends?"
* * *