666 - The Devil's Mark (ON HOLD)

Late Night Visits

The light thud of a large object landing on something soft jerks me from my sleep with the knowledge I am no longer alone. Breathing quietly, body frozen in position, I wait, but nothing else reaches my straining ears. The lack of sound, however, does not induce any doubt as to what woke me; someone, unaware of the distance to the floor of the basement, entered the building.

Hands moving through their well rehearsed preparations, my mind races to figure out what sort of creature I am about to face and how quickly it could be moving. Not knowing how long I have before it reaches me, preparation is key. Upon recognising that there is still no sound coming from down below, I slide from the bed, weapons already secured at my back, I draw the left and make my way back through the room and out the door ensuring the bells make no sound as I move.

The silence, usually comforting, is almost eerie now, as I attempt to move without sound, down the three flights of stairs to the basement. The knowledge that it could be a Marked waiting down there to kill me, or, worse, capture me and keep me with the rest of its herd to bleed whenever it gets hungry. But, I know I won't let that happen. Capture isn't an option. And hopefully neither is death. As long as I can kill it before it sends a message to the rest of them. Of course I will still have to move out and find another place to live, but at least I'll still be alive.

The basement door comes into view all too soon and not soon enough, as my heart begins to race, in preparation for what comes next; a fight for my life. I've won every one so far; how hard can it be?

With a deep breath I push the door open, moving slowly through the dark entrance and finding the top step without difficulty. Before I can finish shifting my weight down to the next step, however, an heavy weight hits my back and I hit the wall on the right of the staircase. A tall body pressing into my back as I lean into the smooth wall. My hand still gripping my sword, I relax in the firm grip. It's human, I can tell simply from the warmth emanating through the material of my shirt as they lean against me. I'm guessing male from the weight and height. As he begins to relax the force on my body, a smirk tugs up the corners of my lips; they're always so predictable. It's almost starting to be pathetic.

With a sharp twirl, and a slight shove, he is tumbling down the rest of the steps to the floor of the basement. His muffled expletives send a slight thrill through me as I follow quickly along behind his shadowy form. Able to see a lot better than he can in the non-existent lighting, though nowhere near as well as one of the Marked.

"Don't kill me." His deep voice growls out, confirming he is in fact male, as he leaps to his feet, a small dagger in his hand. I twirl my blade and hold in a chuckle at his words.

"You broke in to my house. Why shouldn't I kill you?" I ask, adding a slight lilt to my voice as I speak, waiting for the all too common response I know is coming; But I'm human! You can't kill me. But when he eventually speaks his words almost shock me.

"I know. I shouldn't have done that, and if someone broke into my place I'd want to kill them to..." at these words I move closer, threatening his position, and he stumbles back a step, hands in the air, as he hurries to finish his sentence, "But! Word around is you're a bit of a recluse! How else was I supposed to talk to you? Today is the first time anyone has seen you leave this building in weeks, and we couldn't approach you then because you somehow manage to just walk right through a group of Undead without them noticing a thing!"

"Maybe I don't want to talk to you? Did you ever think of that?" I ask anger filling my tone at the realisation that he, and obviously others, has been watching me for weeks and I didn't even notice. "How have you been watching me? No one survives around here for too long; it's infested. You should be dead or part of a herd." As I speak I move closer, blade still up, forcing him to move backwards through the obstacle course that is the gym room, until his back meets the wall by the landing mattress.