Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Fall into Darkness ❯ Fourth Fall ( Chapter 4 )

Fall into Darkness

The four companions gasped and stepped away from their fallen prey at the appearance of a certain purple-haired individual. Mille Feuille glanced at each former Sorcerer Hunter, though still in the service of Big Mama, and flinched inwardly. This new world was a cold womb in which to be conceived.

"I'll take care of everything now," he told the four deadly teenagers. They shifted uncertainly but finally acquiesced. Sighing at their departure, he leaned over the prone boy. He didn't look well. "Forgive all of us, Carrot. Please." The boy made no reply, not that the man had been expecting any in the first place. Gently Mille brushed back the boy's rain-slicked hair and gazed into his unnaturally pale face.

Crystal drops of rain splashed into the puddles surrounding them. Mille observed the bleak conditions with distaste. He had to get Carrot back to Mama's headquarters in the older portion of the city. He picked up the boy with great care, as if he was some fragile infant.

What would the boy's former companions feel were they to learn who this was? The man wondered cradling his still charge. No doubt a deep sense of culpability would drown their minds, but they had only been following Big Mama's orders. If she had fully awakened their memories…but she hadn't, and wouldn't.

They might not recover from the shock.

Would Carrot listen to reason? Or had Sacher completely twisted him? If he didn't then Mama had no choice but to destroy him. One small sacrifice for the greater good was all that was required. If only…

* * *

The little boy curled in cat-like contentment on his guardian's lap. The man's rich baritone rolled over him and drugged his mind with sleepiness. He was telling a story that the boy had heard many times, yet could never fully understand. All he knew was that he felt completely safe and warm. He wondered if he would feel warm once everything changed, was destroyed.

"And God cast down Lucifer not only for defying Him, but for questioning Him."

* * *

The blonde girl stumbled into the room. Deep bruises decorated her face and arms while a latticework of scratches ran across her body. Sacher Torte stared at his ward's bodyguard in mild surprise. He had no need of questions for her condition spoke plainly enough of what had happened.

"Is he alive?" The girl coughed weakly and nodded as she attempted to stand up straight. "But she has him?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I tried…I tried." The girl broke down in helpless tears. Without a word Sacher Torte scooped up sobbing girl and carried her to her austere room. With the gentleness of a father he tucked her into bed.

"Everything will be fine," he assured her calmly. She sniffed softly, and for, perhaps, the first time he realized that she was still a young girl. For all her strength and posturing, she was still only fourteen. "You have not failed me, Éclair."

"Lord Sacher?" He rested one large hand against her cool forehead. She stared up at him with eyes both young and old. He briefly wondered if she even realized he had robbed her of any chance to live as a normal teenager.

"Sleep, child." He pressed her head firmly against the pillow and called down enough power to send her into a deep sleep. When her steady, even breaths reached his ears, he left the room and shut the door softly.

His thoughts turned to his kidnapped ward and a dark shadow fell across his face. Big Mama had proved more audacious than he had predicted. He disliked such surprises. However, he knew the woman would be unable to tamper with the boy's young mind or the sleeping fount of destruction within him. Still, he had to retrieve Carrot before she took drastic actions.

How dare she take what was rightfully his?

* * *

He hated the cold. He hated the darkness. If only they would just go away, just cease to be. Everything breathed drafts of icy darkness. So many lost, he could feel them crawling just below his frozen flesh. If only he could see or find some spot of light, then maybe he could endure it.

If he opened his eyes…

* * *

An unfamiliar ceiling greeted Carrot upon awaking. Whorls of white plaster converged above his head and formed a slightly off-kilter scallop shell. Off white walls boxed him up. To the left a high window, securely shuttered, offered no view. To the left a thick wood door provided the only escape. No pictures, no adornments, except the ridiculous ceiling and cot beneath him, interrupted the austerity of the room. It felt like some sort of cell…or something.

He shifted and discovered a playground of small, sharp pains across the entirety of his body. Two especially vicious hurts thundered with his erratic pulse on his hip and around his neck. With sleep-clumsy hands he touched his neck and flinched. Next he explored the sensitivity in his hip and found that it, too, had been bound.

Had those-

A knife-like agony sliced through his head when he tried to remember who those people had been. Those people who…had attacked him? Yes, that sounded right. He had been attacked.

"Éclair!" Visions of the moody girl lying still upon the wet asphalt filled his mind. Had they, the infamous and mysterious 'they,' taken her as well? Was she awake right now and wondering where she was?

Only fourteen.

He swung his legs off the end of the cot and clutched the sheets to cover his nudity. He had to find clothes, Éclair and a way out. What would his mentor say? He had fallen into the hands of the enemy. Would they torture him? Kill him?

Where were they? Why hadn't they accosted him as soon as he awoke? What was their game? He shivered and looked around the bare room. Perhaps they were watching him now, studying his reactions.

He wanted to go home.

* * *

There it is. A little short, I know, but I hope it meets approval. So please drop a line and review.