Between the Shadows

Chapter 1

"This has gone far enough, somebody has to stop them"

"What do you want me to do? Kill them?"

"Yes, they cannot be allowed to continue like this. They are destroying this world"

"No... We can't do that. Not all of them are like that, you know that"

"They are a bunch of killers..."

"They are human... They can be changed. I know they can"

"Never... They will kill you the moment you turn your back"

"You know that's not true... What about Him?"

"We don't know if that rumour is true. We have to take them out"

"But if the rumour's true... They have one of our children..."

The wind was howling through the empty streets. Shadows moved between the buildings, keeping watch over the few lost and drunk souls that staggered through the streets. Every now and then a cry would rise into the air, sounding cold and full of despair. The lights in the windows blinked out one by one as the night deepened.

A young woman ran through the streets. She moved with grace, like a predator stalking it's pray. Only she wasn't stalking her pray. She was the pray of one of the lost and drunk souls in the street. The young woman had a gun in her hand, but she was hesitant about using it.

'A gun is not for killing people... It is only a last resort when everything else has failed' that was what she believed. That was one of the codes of the sweepers. Her goal wasn't to kill the man behind her, it was to catch him and collect the bounty, that was who she was.

A female sweeper in a town full of thugs, thieves and murders.

One of the shadows watched as the young woman ran and slowly followed her from the rooftops. He knew where she was headed. It wasn't the first time that he'd seen her in the streets. There was something about her that held his attention every time that he'd seen her and this time wasn't any different.

She was so different from what he was used to.  Somehow he began to learn her patterns, it was almost like he knew what she was thinking. The only problem was that he did not know why she would what she does.

The darkness hid him from all praying eyes. The little light that the moon provided disappeared as clouds blocked out the moon and stars. The darkness didn't bother him . He could see perfectly fine in the darkness, he's after all only a shadow to the world.

A world that was controlled by the guild.

The guild of assassins, hunters, executioners and raiders. He stopped moving the moment the rain started falling. Looking up at the sky, his face showed no emotions. With a sharp movement he pulled up the collar of his coat. He looked down at the street, his eyes searching for the young woman. Cursing softly when he saw her running to one of the alleys.

She was taking another route than the one he thought she'd take.

Without making a sound he ran over the rooftops towards the alley. He jumped over the streets, making his way to the alley where the young woman was headed. The young woman was fast, but nowhere near as fast as he was. It only took him a few seconds to get to the alley and jumped down from the roof. There was no sign of life in the narrow street as he moved to hide himself in the shadows. That was who he was, a shadow amongst the living. the deadly killer that kills without remorse. A shadow puppet for the guild.

Shadow...

That was his name. It was what They called him. Never anything else, just that... That person that lives in the shadows, moves in the shadows and becomes part of the shadows when needed.  And he hated Them for that, for making him into what he was.