DARK HALLS

Part One - Dark Beginnings

I can remember that dark and stormy night clear as day. It occurred sometime very early in the morning, but I knew it should have taken at least four hours for the sun to begin its routine rise. I was laying on my bed still wide awake during this time. As usual, I was having a great deal of trouble falling asleep. Ever since I could remember, I had been utterly terrified of the dark, so terrified, that I could only sleep with a nightlight on at all times.

As I laid across my bed, thunder boomed loudly in the distance, making the darkness seem even more intimidating than usual. Ordinarily my nightlight alone was enough to sooth me, but tonight it seemed ineffective. I desperately tried to fall asleep, tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position. Soon after losing hope that I would ever fall asleep, I decided to go outside and watch the thunder storm. The loud noise of thunder wasn't appealing in the slightest, but the lightning brought composure, illuminating the shadowy world around me. Mother, on the other hand, would have felt differently about my decision. Horrified that I could possibly be stricken, she never allowed me to even watch a thunder storm. Luckily, tonight she was asleep, or so I thought.

I arose from my bed cautiously, still a bit frightened. The moonlight flowing through the windows of the room began to give me courage. I took a deep breath and eased myself slowly off the side of my bed. My feet gently touched the cold wooden floor as I made an attempt to stand. The house was cold, quiet, and very dark, but thanks to my familiarity of the establishment, I was easily able to navigate through the dark moonlit bedroom. I was just about to exit the bedroom door when I heard a quiet whisper behind me. "Cyprian," the quiet voice whispered, "is that you?" I turned around upon hearing my name and glanced around the bedroom. At the far end of the room, I noticed a little pair of eyes peering out at me from atop a bed underneath a blanket. "Yes," I whispered, "now go back to sleep."

The figure underneath the blanket arose, sat upright, stretched out its arms and leaned forward. The moonlight from a nearby window beamed onto the figures' face. It was my youngest brother, Finley. He rubbed his eyes and began to speak again. "Why do I have to go back to sleep, where are mom and dad, and why are you out of bed?" His seemingly endless amount of questions already started to annoy me. I knew far too well the level of frustration he was capable of invoking. If possible, I didn't want to hear anything else he had to say. I wanted to bolt out the door at full speed, but I knew Finley would wake our parents if I did.

There was an uneasy pause as I tried to gather my thoughts together. After a few dozen seconds, I came up with an idea. "You have to go back to sleep because... dad said so," I said, "they're sleeping right now, but I won't tell them you were up if you go back to sleep." He looked puzzled as he tried to process what I had said. It was extremely rare for Finley to be silent, so this began to worry me considerably. Suddenly, a loud booming noise and a blinding light filled the room. I fell backward and slammed against the floor. "Ouch..." I murmured in an agonizing voice. I suddenly started feeling pain in my right arm. It looked like I had bruised my forearm when I had fallen. I must have banged it against my own knee. The thunder storm outside was becoming more active.

I slowly began to stand up again, a little sore from the fall. "You never told me why YOU were up." He said in a calm and collective tone. He glared at me as he said this. "What?" I said, confused upon his words. "You told me all about why I was not allowed to be up, but what I want to know, is why you're up." He demanded. I was surprised by Finley's observation; I didn't have any words to speak. "You know," He said while he posed a sly grin, "I think you're up to watch the thunder storm." Just then, another loud booming noise and blinding light filled the room once again. I was so focused on our conversation, I didn't even flinch. "Why do you even care?" I asked impatiently, now frustrated my plan wasn't going well. "Isn't it obvious," He said posing an even wider grin than before, "I want to see the thunder storm too!" The last thing I wanted to do was drag around my annoying little brother, but I had no other choice. "Fine," I sighed half-heartedly, "but you're going to have to listen to whatever I say." His grin soon began to fade after hearing his words. "Alright, I'll play along." He said.