From Light Unto Darkness

The rooms were a lonely whisper.

The wind from the night sky inspected our home, breezing through the halls and causing a ghostly moan to fill the air. The haunting night was closing in on me.

I had spent the past two hours searching high and low for my mom. I walked around outside and inside. I just couldn’t find a trace of where they took her.

Come on, Zila, think! I scolded myself mentally.

What would a spy do? What would a detective from my mystery novels do?

With a few shaky breaths, I thought about what to look for. I needed evidence that to where she had gone. Any signs of struggle, or little pieces spread around the room going in a certain direction. My mom would put up a fight, and a trail of evidence would be left in the wake of fighting.

Going back to the room I had last seen her in, I saw the coffee table was upturned, the chairs thrown to the side. Looking down the hall, I saw our bookshelf had been knocked over.

My eyes closed, imagining what was happening. Imagine…imagine…imagine…

The three men had jumped through the window, temporary stunned from the impact. My mom came running in, telling me to go. Sprinting to the basement, I was locked away. Two men went to follow me, while my mom held off the other one.

There had been shattering and shouts upstairs from my hiding place. My mom was distracting the man, keeping his attention on her, and not trying to find me. The table was knocked over as my mom tried to run, the glass vase shattering against the wooden floor.

I opened my eyes. Blood spatters lined the edge of the table, but not on top. I closed my eyes once more.

The glass pierced my mom’s leg, that’s why there’s blood lower to the floor. She cried out in pain but kept going down the hall, knocking the bookshelf over to try to block the way towards the basement.

I opened my eyes once again, taking hesitant steps towards the back hall, stepping around the book shelf that had fallen over. The knick-knacks and paper copies of old novels had fallen to the floor. A broken elephant’s head looked sad.

The man in the ski mask growled as he tripped over the bookshelf. Quickly regaining his balance, he followed my mom out the door. The screen door is broken. My mom probably didn’t even bother to open it, just crashed through it. Or maybe the man did. They don’t care that they ruined our home.

I stepped out into the night air, pressing the switch and letting the light flicker on. The yellow glow filled the back porch. More blood, this time smeared.

The man grabbed her, threw her to the ground. She rolled around, fighting back. Something else happened and the man knocked her out. The blood trail stops.

The blood trail has fallen flat. There’s no more noticeable marks of scarlet. It takes me fifteen minutes before I can pick up on another clue. Too much time was lost just searching for it.

Shuffled footsteps. The prints aren’t clear. The man is dragging something, either a wounded leg, or my mom. The man’s footsteps is joined by two more pair, his partners. They all help the first man carry whatever his load is. The foot prints are clearer. They wrap around to the front of the house, down the cement driveway, and to their supposed getaway vehicle. There’s tire tracks in the dirt at the end of our driveway. The men had gotten away with my mom, or whatever they came here for.

I stood, looking down the unpopulated neighborhood in the midnight air. There’s no more trace of the men that had attacked us. The trail had gone cold.

A single tear leaked out of my eye. She was gone. My mom was gone. Whether they killed her and took the evidence or they kept her alive, it didn’t matter. She was gone.

But I want her back.

A flash of bright lights distracted me from the growing anger of what had happened. I was angry at the men for taking the only remaining family member from me, my rock, and my shoulder to lean on. I was angry and pissed and I really wanted to round kick them in the face. I knew karate, so I think I had a chance to take them.

Shoulders back, standing tall, I turned to face the lights that blinded me for barely a second. I was ready to take them on. Just a sixteen year old girl against three older men.

The car lights stopped suddenly, pulling just in front of me. Someone stepped out of the car. No, two people stepped out of the car. They ran in front of the headlights. I backed up out of the glare.

A boy that had to be at least two years older than I and a middle aged man evacuated the car and ran up to me. I shied back, glaring at the both of them. They weren’t in the attire that my attackers had worn, but they could still be the same people.

“Oh no, they got to them. Damn, we were too slow.” The man cursed. The boy approached me slowly, head tilted to the side in curiosity.

Two green eyes found their way onto mine. He had to be about eighteen and had a mane of scraggly hair on top of his head. The fringed black hair fell into his face, which he promptly brushed away. The teenage boy held his gaze on my defensive posture.

“Did the grey men come through here?” He asked softly, as if he was approaching a frantic animal.

I nodded shortly. The boy’s eyes scanned up and down my frame as I steadied my racing heart. The man eyed the two of us.

“Did they hurt you?” He asked quietly. I bit my lip, not sure if I could trust him. Trust no one. Everybody lies.

“No.” I responded finally. The boy’s shoulders slumped down, a sign of relief. His lips pulled into a faint smile. “What’s your name?”

“Zila.”

“Well, Zila, did they take your mother? Sister? Father?”

“What’s your name?” I countered. The boy’s green eyes softened, a bargain of questions lingering heavy in the air. I wanted to get away from them, but they had me outnumbered.

“I’m Nicco and my partner is Olrick.” Nicco introduced. Olrick tipped his chin down, a small greeting. My eyes went back to Nicco. When the two first arrived, they were disappointed that they hadn’t gotten to me first, but why? What was their goal?

Shifting my weight just ever so slightly, I evened my balance so that if I needed to jump or strike, I could. Clearing my throat, I asked, “Why are you here? What’s your connection to the grey men?” Nicco shook his head, looking disgusted.

“They’re a band of killers and looters. We’re working to stop them and we suspected that your house was going to be the next target, but we were too late. Back to my other question; Did they take a family member of yours?” He asked again.

They seemed trustworthy.

Loosening my stance, I nodded slowly. “My mom.” I croaked. Nicco took a step towards me, to which I responded with eyeing him cautiously.

“What if we told you that we could help you find your mother and take down the grey men?” He bided, his voice full of temptation and laced with a promise of adventure.

My eyes widened at that. I needed anything, any clues, and any way to get my mom back. If these two were able to predict where the grey men would strike, they could lead me to my mother.

With a shaky breath, I inclined my head. “What about it?”

“All you have to do is trust me, and I’ll show you how to get your mom back.” Nicco held out his hand, his fingers curled in a beckon to get me to go with him.

I looked between my tattered house and the two seekers in front of me. With another long sigh, I turned to Nicco, taking his hand.

“Let’s go.”

Notes