Darkness Ascendant, Part I

Chapter 1

Blood flowed in strange, twisting rivers, originating from a black clad body she couldn’t see. The ruby red liquid seemed to almost glow golden causing it to be the only source of light in the pitch-blackness around her. Although she couldn’t see anyone else she knew that there were three other presences with her in the darkness, almost as if she could sense them. Something was swimming in the blood, something of different texture and color than the liquid itself. She peered trying to get a closer look. Names. There were words swirling in those sanguine depths, as black and glowing as the abyss and the blood. Moving nearer to the blood without being aware of how she did since she had the strangest feeling of discorpearelness, she tried to read the names inked into the ribbons of blood. She’d almost managed to decipher the nearest one when a harsh beeping sound demanded her attention. The noise seemed to get constantly louder and as it did, the darkness and the blood seemed to fade away. No! She mentally cried out struggling against whatever force was pulling her away. I have to know what it says! I have to…

Groaning she opened her eyes and irritably reached over to her nightstand to slam down on the snooze button. She snuggled into the warmth of tightly wrapped comforter, her eyes drifting shut once more only to start cursing whoever invented alarm clocks, five minutes later although to her it seemed only an instant. Tossing the comforter of her chest and towards her feet she rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling without really seeing it, before giving into the inevitable with a sigh and sitting up. Glaring daggers at the now silent alarm clock she reached over and shut it off before crawling out of bed. Running a hand through her tangled sleep mussed hair, she walked to the dresser, not even bothering to turn on any lights, feeling more than comfortable moving only by the harsh light of early dawn. Slipping into a pair of comfortable jeans she pulled on a lose white shirt over her white sports top, and glanced at the clock, realizing that yet again she wouldn’t have time for breakfast. Oh well, she thought with a casual shrug. To her those extra minutes of sleep were more important no matter how illogical that seemed.

Stopping only to grab her ID, wallet and keys she hurried out into the chill of the early morning, breathing in the unique fresh scent that only the dawn could bring. Slipping into her beloved car, which by modern standards was something of an antique, she blasted both the music and the air conditioning knowing that the combination of noise and cold air would wake her up faster than caffeine ever could. No matter how convenient it might be, she couldn’t imagine trading her car in for a newer model or a shiff. If people had been meant to fly they’d have been born with wings, she thought, then winced at her own thoughts. Some people had been born with wings, or rather with necessary something to allow for wings. Despite the Sky Lords (and Ladies-although there seemed to be fewer of those) having been around for as long as could be remembered, it still seemed to take getting used to even for people like herself who’d grown up knowing no other life than with them around. She couldn’t help it-there was just something about them that she found creepy, skin crawling creepy. Well, aren’t we cheerful this morning, she thought sourly to herself.

One good thing had come out of her inner musings though; it had managed to pass the time during her drive. She found herself fully awake, her razor sharp mind ready for the day’s work as she neared the local federal building where she was serving her internship for the summer with one of the top forensic investigators around, who just incidentally turned out to be a Bright Lady, a touch of irony colored her thoughts as she presented her ID at the entrance to the parking lot. It wasn’t that she was prejudiced against the Sky Lords and Ladies, even if socially speaking they did rank higher than mere humans, in fact she liked Mikhaila, however, there was that constant sense of her boss being able to see right through her that made her skin itch. With a casual shrug she began to make her way to the elevator that would take her down to the basement where Mikhaila’s office was along with the morgue, when a cheerful voice called out to her,

“Hey Ash, wait up! Hold the elevator.” Moments later, an out of breath sable skinned young woman with her hair in countless braids and sparkling onyx eyes stepped into the elevator with her. Ash smiled at her friend and fellow intern. “Hi, Kasha, sleep in this morning?” Mischief coating her voice, since normally Kasha was almost annoyingly on time. “No more than you.” Came the friendly rejoinder, which caused both of them to grin as they stepped of the elevator and walked to meet their boss who was probably already there, if she’d even left work the night before. As if reading her thoughts, Kasha gave Ash an impish smile and asked,

“Think the boss lady got any sleep last night?” Ash snorted cheerfully in reply,

“I don’t think she even knows what ‘sleep’ is.” Laughing the two college students opened the office door and came face to face with a rather stern looking middle aged woman with the most brilliant gold spun hair imaginable and impossibly gray blue eyes that seemed to glow-enormous pearlescent white wings folded against her back. Sobering immediately at the hard look on her face both interns greeted her with the utmost courtesy,

“Good morning, Lady Mikhaila.” “Good morning, Lady.”

“Kasha. Ash.” The Bright Lady nodded solemnly to her two aides. “We have a new case to work on that takes precedence over all others.” The two humans gave each other a quick side-glance before proceeding to join Mikhaila at the table that they worked at more often than not.

“So,” Kasha asked as she slid into one of the more comfortable chairs, “how much coffee are we looking at with this case?” It was strange but over the past month or so of their internship, they’d begun to measure the severity of a case by how much caffeine they’d drink staying up late at night working on them. Even Mikhaila, who at first glance gave the impression of being rather severe and close-minded, shared in the humor. Morbid humor, they found was definitely necessary to doing the job without permanently depressing oneself.

“I’d advise investing in stock options of your favorite coffee company.” Mikhaila dryly replied, as she tossed several manila folders on the table, her wings rustling slightly.

“Shit.” Ash let slip before she realized the unprofessionalism of such cursing, but it seemed appropriate considering the magnitude of the case that the Boss Lady had just hinted at. Thankfully Mikhaila didn’t say anything in response, and Ash reached for one of the folders, her complete attention now focused on the job-all humor aside.

She whistled silently through her teeth as she skimmed through the file, noting absentmindedly Kasha’s echoing intake of breath next to her, as the other obviously flipped through her own file. She paused at a particularly gruesome photograph,

“How can a human being do this to another?”

“It didn’t.” Ash glanced swiftly up from the photography to stare at her mentor.

“Excuse me.” Came Kasha’s disbelieving voice, “But I thought you just said this wasn’t done by a human?” Mikhaila nodded.

“Indeed.”

“Then what…” Kasha trailed off even as Ash began to get a slightly sick sensation in the pit of her stomach at the implications of that.

“A Darkling. These crimes were all committed by a darkling.” Out of the corner of her eye, Ash saw Kasha pale as she herself swallowed dryly. A darkling murder. That was serious indeed. Probably the biggest case they’d worked on since beginning their internship. Instead of saying anything, for there was nothing really that could be said in response to such a statement, she once again began to thumb through the folder this time slower, with a much more critical eye and a new perspective. A few minutes into the silence, the rustling of papers told her that her friend and her boss had joined her as well.

Hours passed mostly in silence. Occasionally one of them would speak up either to ask a question or to comment on something they’d noticed. The yellow pages of the legal pad next to Ash were already filled with ideas, thoughts, comments and diagrams that she’d jotted down over the past few hours. They broke their stride only for lunch and then that was only to order something, pick it up and bring it back to the office. Ash was eternally grateful that Kasha had found that tiny deli down the street. As it turned out they made the best sandwiches, bagels and homemade soup, as well as the biggest muffins ever seen. Kasha and Ash had become such regular customers that the owners and they were on first name bases. Great for getting discounts, Ash thought disjointedly even as she noted something that was almost the begins of a pattern in the physical evidence of yet another victims. Eight so far. And likely to become more before the darkling was caught.

“What could drive someone even a darkling to such violence. I just don’t understand it?” She mused gnawing on the cap of her pen. Kasha’s curious gaze made her realize that she’d utter the thought out loud, while Mikhaila’s intense scrutiny made her feel something akin to a bug under a microscope.

“Who can truly understand the mind of one of the Dark people save for the Dark people themselves, hmmm?” Mikhaila answered with sardonic amusement. “However, it is generally known that unlike the transformation of my own kind, that of the Dark people is harsh, painful, and sometimes even violent as well. An all around traumatic event, which more often than not has a negative effect on the psyche. After all they are recessive, genetically speaking.”

“And, Ash,” Mikhaila added humorously, something which was offset by the steely glint in her emeraldis eyes, “if you did understand their motivation I would worry.”

Hearing Kasha snickering next to her, she couldn’t resist smiling slightly, “So would I, Boss. So would I.” With that bit of humor taking some of the edge off that the case had begun to produce, they settled down for another hours long bout-shifting through forensic reports, crime scene photographs and other reports-all in the pursuit of looking for some sort of pattern, something that gave the killer away or would reveal something about the victims and why they’d been chosen by the darkling.

Exasperated, Ash tossed the folder she’d been reading through down on the table and rubbed the bridge of her nose. A migraine beginning to develop right behind her eyes. Shit, I need to start getting more sleep at night, she thought absentmindedly. Images of black and red teasing the edge of her mind as she tried to recall what she’d been dreaming the night before. Or was that this morning? She shook her head with an exaggerated sigh. The building had almost emptied the hour was so late.

“What really gets me,” Kasha’s voice drew her and Mikhaila’s attention, the Bright Lady’s wings rustling as she stretched them, and leaned back in her chair.

“Yeah?” Ash pushed for her friend to continue.

“Is the writing.” Oh yes, the writing. That had been bothering her as well. The other had been the messiness of the kills. The Dark people, even those as low as darklings weren’t known to be such wasteful, messy killers. Almost as if the gruesomeness itself were a pattern. She mentally slapped herself, Girl you are really losing it this time.

“I mean,” Kasha added, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip, eyes glued to the folder in her hands, “come on-Beware. The Living Darkness is Coming.” She looked up and raised one elegant ebony eyebrow, “Isn’t that a bit cliché. Like-The Sky is Falling. Or Repent Ye Sinners for the End is Nigh?” Ash chuckled and glanced at Mikhaila, who smiled indulgently, her luminous green eyes sparkling.

“Living Darkness indeed.” Kasha snorted derisively. “Who’s ever heard of such a thing anyway? I haven’t. You haven’t. Mikhaila hasn’t. Am I right or am I right?” Kasha pushed her chair back, rolling her head to stare at the ceiling.

“You are most correct, Kasha.” Mikhaila replied. But Ash wasn’t so convinced. Over the years she’d come to consider herself an excellent observer of people, after all as far as she could remember her friends and family, even her mother and other adults had always confided in her, and she had listened. Sometimes having to read between the lines, hearing what was not said as much as what was said, in order to help them, to know the right thing to say in order to reassure. As such she’d come to automatically read facial expressions and body language when talking to people instead of simply listening to them, and she could have sworn she’d seen a flicker of something momentarily darkening her mentor’s eyes at the mention of the Living Darkness. In fact, she was almost certain that Mikhaila had lied in her agreement with Kasha. But to what purpose? If Mikhaila knew what the message meant or had some idea-why not share it? Wouldn’t that make their job easier? What if that piece of information was vital to forming at least a basic profile of the killer or the victims? Shouldn’t they be told? No, I must have imagined it, she thought. Yet a nagging doubt remained.

“Well girls,” the Bright Lady’s voice cut through her inner argument, “it’s late and I don’t think any of us will get anymore done tonight.” Ash turned her head slightly to meet piercing preternatural green eyes and for a brief moment felt as if their owner knew what she had been thinking, before their focus shifted over to Kasha who was yawning almost continuously. Seeing this started Ash yawning.

“Damn it Kasha. Did you have to start yawning? Now you got me doing it too.” Kasha just laughed through a yawn. Mikhaila smiled good-naturedly at the two of them.

“Why don’t we stop for the night? It’s late and we’re all tired. Tomorrow we can take another stab at this with our minds fresh. Besides I didn’t expect we would figure anything out in one sitting. I expect we will be at this for few weeks if not months.” She rose, folding her wings about her as one would a cloak. “Go on. Shoo.” She made a motion with her hands ushering them out, as they rose stiffly from their chairs and headed out.

“Bye, Lady Mikhaila.” “N’ght, Lady.” As with their greeting, their farewell seemed to run together and overlap, echoing each other.

As they staggered out of the elevator and into the parking garage-Ash heading for her car and Kasha for her shiff, Ash waved to her friend and co-worker,

“See ya tomorrow, Kas.”

“See ya, Ash.” She was almost to her car when she heard Kasha call out again almost hesitantly,


“Hey Ash, I’m going over to check this new club on Saturday, you wanna come with me?” Ash paused in thought, key in the lock. They’d be busy with the case even over the weekend, but then everyone needed a break every now and then, especially people in their profession, even if they were just interns. Finally she shrugged,

“Sure. Why not? Meet you at my place.”

“Great.” Her friend smiled brightly. “I’ll be there around 10ish. Bye.” And with that she was gone. The quite hum of a shiff sounding moments later, vanishing into the night. Shaking her head in amusement Ash climbed into her nice, down to earth, old car, and once again blasting both air conditioning and music in order to keep herself awake, headed home. As she collapsed onto her bed her last thought was that Saturday couldn’t come too soon for her taste.