Night Song the decent into shadow

The sky drew dark and thunder echoed down the street as I approached the creepy old house that sat all alone at the dead end. Sweat trickled down my back and I tightened my grip on the straps of my backpack as my heart threatened to jump right out of my chest.

My breath caught in my throat as I watched the door of the old house slowly creak open and a large figure stepped out onto the porch. "Dakota get in here before you get caught in the rain!"I let out my breath with a large sigh as I picked up the pace then shuffled up the steps of the front porch to the creepy old house.Yes I live in this creepy old house; the one that the kids in my class always whispered ghost stories about in class. I used to join them in their whispered rumours about murders and disappearances until I ended up moving into the very house that was the cause of many a nightmare in the neighbourhood children.  I moved into this house about six months ago after my so called guardian picked me up from school one day with the news that both of my parents had died in a train accident while they were on their way into the city to work. But that is a different story and one I still have nightmares about almost every night. I sat at the dinner table pushing peas and mashed potatoes around my plate as I glanced up at Claude. He always ate his dinner like he was at a fancy dinner party or something and he scowled at me as he glanced down at my plate."How many times have I told you not to play with your food?" He sniffed as he raised his wine glass to his lips at took a sip of the dark red liquid."May I be excused?" I sighed as I plopped the fork onto the plate."Not until you have finished your dinner." Claude eyed the plate again. "You have barely eaten all week."I forced a couple bites of potato down. "There I ate. Can I go now?"Claude look exasperated. "Fine but you get nothing until breakfast and you better be going to get your homework done."I wasn't pleased but I slid out of my chair and grabbed my book bag from the front hall before trudging up the stairs to my room."Oh and Dakota…" I turned to see Claude looking up at me from the bottom of the stairs. "You have practice tomorrow after school. Don't be late."I turned and grumbled as I continued up to my room."What was that? I didn't catch it." Claude called up the stairs."Yes sir." I said before I closed my bedroom door and flung my book bag on my bed. I walked over to the large window on the other side of my room, pulled the heavy bright green curtains back and peered out at the gloom. There were already giant water splats on the grass from the rain and in the distance I could hear a rumble of thunder signifying the fall storm that was about to come in. I sighed. Because of the storm I would have to stay inside for the rest of the evening. I suppose I could have asked Claude if I could get some Internet time but I wasn't in the mood to bargain away my weekend to chores just for a couple hours of Facebook time. Resigned, I grabbed my school bag from where it landed on the bed and plopped down on the carpet in front of my Kotatsu table, which I tended to use more often then the desk that was sitting beside the window. I pulled out my homework and got started while listening to the storm that grew louder as the minutes ticked by. I was half way through my math homework when I heard a strange tapping noise. I paused for a moment with my pencil hovering over the page straining my ears waiting for the sound to happen again. When it didn't I shrugged and continued on with my work. The tap-tap-tap was louder this time and made me jump, dropping my pencil on the table. I got to my feet and slowly inched over to my window. I heard it again as I was about to pull the curtains back and thought better of it. When I dropped my hand I could hear the window slowly open. I stepped back with a gasp when I saw a small black gremlin like creature peek out from behind my curtain. It was the size of a small dog but walked upright like a person. It smiled, razor sharp teeth showing as it looked up at me. I took another step back towards my door as it continued to watch me with it's glowing green eyes."Stay away from me." I whispered as I shuffled back farther.The creature chittered then hissed at me before whipping its rat like tail like an angry cat. It leapt at me with lightning speed and without thinking I raised my arm to protect myself.I shrieked in pain as I felt needle like teeth sink into my arm. I tried to pry it off but it had an iron grip on me and sank it's teeth in deeper as I tugged on it."LET GO!" I cried as I flailed my arm around, tears streaming from my eyes. I heard the door open with a bang behind me. I twirled around and for once was glad to see my guardian standing there."What's going on here?!" Claude demanded as he looked around my room."Help me!" I sobbed as I thrust my arm out that still had the creature attached to it. Claude narrowed his eyes at the creature at my arm and yelled a strange language at it. The creature finally let my arm go and dropped down on to the floor, cowering before Claude. It replied in the same strange language before it backed away and faded into the shadows."Are you alright?" Claude asked as he glanced down at my arm to look at the bite mark left behind by the creature. It had started to swell and bleed. The edges of the bite marks had also started to turn a horrible black colour."I'm ok." I stammered."Come on we need to get that wound cleaned out." Claude led me to the bathroom where he sat me down on a stool in front of the sink while he rummaged around for something to clean and dress my arm. He pulled out the first aid kit from one of the cupboards below the bathroom counter and opened it. Claude rummaged through the kit and pulled out some gauze and some large bandages, placed them beside the sink then wet a cloth. I winced as he dabbed the blood away from the teeth marks. His brow furrowed as he examined my wound closely."Continue cleaning that arm the best you can, I'll be right back." Claude passed me the damp cloth and walked out of the room. I heard him walk down the hall and then down the stairs. I took a deep breath before carefully tackling the mess that was my arm. It was starting to look worse as the bruising spread to look like a smear of black lipstick above and below the teeth marks. There was still some blood oozing out of some of the holes but I had most of the dried blood cleaned up by the time Claude came back with some jars and a bowl full of steaming liquid. I looked at them curiously, wondering what they were.Claude opened the jars and sprinkled some of the contents of each into the bowl, which produced a bitter smell that I made a face at."I know it smells bad but it will help." Claude assured me as he got a clean cloth and dunked it in the smelly solution in the bowl then placed it on my arm. The cloth was very warm on my skin and whatever was in the bowl made it tingle and itch. I started to squirm on the stool as the itching and burning sensation got worse. "What was that thing?" I asked trying to keep my mind off my arm. "It's called a Darkling." Claude replied as he took the cloth off my arm and examined the bite before he dunked the cloth in the bowl and replaced it. "A Darkling?" I looked up at my guardian confused. "What is a Darkling?" "It's a creature that is born from the shadows and its bite can be deadly to both people and animals." I paled at the remark and glanced down at my cloth-covered arm. "Don't worry Dakota, I've treated Darkling bites before. You will be fine once I finish cleaning the poison from the wound." "That doesn't really make me feel any better." I said flatly. "There we are." Claude announced as he finished wrapping the wound. "Now it will hurt for a bit." Clause warned. "But it's not getting out of practice tomorrow."I groaned as I slid off the stool. "Now finish up your homework and get to bed. You will need your rest." Claude shooed me off to my room then turned to clean up the bathroom counter. I made my way down the hall to my room and took a deep breath as I slowly peeked around the door and surveyed the area. It was quiet and as it should have been. There was nothing creeping in the shadows and my homework was on the table where I had left it.I let out my breath with a whoosh then walked back over to my homework and placed it all back in my book bag. There wasn't really anything due tomorrow anyway and I was too tired to finish it up tonight. I flopped onto my pink canopy bed and snuggled down into the warmth of my favorite bright green comforter and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.