The Descending Darkness
Michael Chulsky
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. Neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped” book.
Copyright © 2019 by Michael Chulsky
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, people, places, or things, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution of the eBook or print copy is illegal and subject to criminal prosecution.
First Edition, 2013
Second Edition, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7342041-0-0
Dedications
Anthony
Marjorie
Veronica
Scott
Najah
Dominique
Janette
Katelyn
Jason
Stephen
Marlena & Alex
There aren’t enough words in the world to properly express how happy I am to know each and every one of you. You make my life a little brighter and a whole lot easier. <3
Acknowledgments
Anthony – the deepest, darkest parts of my soul that nobody knows or could ever understand, you love and embrace. You remain closer to me than anyone else. Thank you for always being there.
Scott and Andrew – I love you guys.
Kelsey Merritt & Ariel Bloomer – for making really awesome music that I listened to thousands of times when writing.
Stephen Domke, Linus Tedelind, Andrew Schreiner – three guys who by streaming always seem to cheer me up whenever I’m down. Thank you for inspiring me.
Jullian Roundtree, Henrique Lima, and Samantha S. – I didn’t have many friends growing up. I was always that weird kid everyone avoided. You three made me feel welcome at a dark time in my life and helped me laugh. It means more to me than any of you will ever know.
Gail Becker, Dan Alston, Kathleen Conley, Sandra Williams, Lisa Cybulski, Jennifer Elgrim, Candice Bidner, Ms. Rohrman, Joe Simon, and Joseph Ferriana. Lore MacDonald, Shanay Robinson, Ms. Erin, Ms. Eileen, Lynn Newberry, Ms. Sharp, Suzanne Lomas, Kingsbery Brothers – my wonderful teachers. I have such fond memories of time spent with you all. Not everyone has the opportunity to be taught by an educator who is actually passionate about their craft. I’m thankful for each and every one of you.
Contents
1. The Calling
2. The Dark Castle
3. The Dragon’s Eye
4. Past Imperfections
5. Unforgiving Flames
6. The Black Market
7. The Descending Darkness
8. Revelations
9. The First Temptation
10. All Hail The Queen
11. The Last Temptation
12. The Greater Good
13. Forget Me Not
About the Author
1
The Calling
A young man, draped in a flowing black cloak, cut through two large buildings. He glanced around to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He had just survived an attack and wasn’t looking forward to another one so soon. Nothing could stand in the way of his mission.
He scurried into a nearby alleyway and then, without hesitation, jumped high into the air and landed on the roof of a small bakery. He surveyed the crowd, searching for his target. After a few long minutes, his eyes locked on the target at last.
The young girl had just walked into an alley. Her power was strong enough; he could smell it in the air. It was incredible. She had to be the girl he was looking for. There wasn’t much time left to waste.
He leapt off the building. His movement while falling was graceful; it was as if gravity simply did not exist. In mid-descent, he headed right toward her. He had expected the encounter to go as every other one had before it, but he was wrong, and it surprised him greatly just how wrong he was.
The girl whipped around in a blur of speed. She waved her hand in a circular motion, and cerulean specks of energy gathered toward her open palm. A shield of thick ice formed around her.
Before the ice could make contact with him, the young man put his hands out, and a black glow surrounded them. Thick tendrils of dark energy sprouted, the shadows themselves extending from his hands. The tendrils connected with the ice and launched him in the opposite direction.
The girl smiled condescendingly, almost sneering. “Hey, what's the matter?” she asked. “Scared you’ll get beaten up by a girl?”
He didn’t say anything. His face was blank. He simply stared at her in mild amusement.
“Well?” she demanded. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“If I wanted to hurt you, you would be hurt,” he replied softly. “I assure you, that wasn’t my intention. I only want to talk.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to listen to some weirdo in a cloak. I’m out.”
He pulled off his cloak, and the moonlight illuminated him. He appeared to be no more than seventeen, with brown hair the color of melted chocolate, ruffled as if somebody had run their hand through it, and brown eyes so dark that they might be mistaken for black. “Wait, cloak’s gone,” he said, waving his hand in a voilà gesture. “See? Don’t leave…I need only a few moments of your time.”
The girl turned back around and looked him over before giving him the full weight of her gaze. “So it is. Tell me, do you greet everyone by jumping at them? It’s original, I’ll give you that.”
He watched her with an almost curious look on his face. Admittedly, if he were a normal, average teenage boy, the type who only cared about looks, they probably would have dated, or he would have tried for it, because of her sheer and untouched natural beauty. Her face was pure and light, the color of milk, and untarnished, like a porcelain doll. Her hair was a bright turquoise color and fell to the top of her shoulders. It was her blue eyes that made him realize he had found the right girl, the one he was looking for. Her control over ice only cemented his suspicion. She had to be the one referred to by the locals as the Ice Princess.
“Clearly, somebody likes the color black,” she said, looking him up and down. “Black cloak, black shirt, black pants, and black sneakers. Are you going to a funeral or something?”
Looking down, he almost blushed. “Perhaps you’re right that my wardrobe could use a little color, but I’m not here for fashion tips.”
“Then why are you here?” she asked. “Don‘t forget, I was just minding my business until you practically attacked me.”
“I wasn’t. I mean, I didn’t intend for it to come off as an attack,” he muttered. “It’s just that I’ve been looking for you and wanted to make sure that you’re you….or that you’re the you I thought you were. And I couldn’t be sure that the you that you were was the you that I thought you were unless I made you think I was attacking you. If that makes any sense.”
She blinked slowly. “Sorry, chief, you lost me.”
He sighed. “What’s your name?”
“How about you give me your name first? Since you were the one who attacked me.”
He paused, staring at her for a few awkward moments. “It’s Shadow, okay?”
“There’s no way that’s a real name.”
“It’s not my birth name, no…but it’s the only one I have. My adoptive parents gave it to me as a nickname. It’s based off my
powers.”
She smirked for a second, trying to gauge whether he was serious or not. After a few seconds, she turned back to face him. “Wow, you’re not even kidding… My name’s Ellie.”
“Ellie,” Shadow repeated. “Nice to meet you.”
“They call me the Ice Princess around here. But judging by your reaction, you knew that already, didn’t you?”
Shadow nodded. “I’ve heard some talk. A vigilante crime fighter, tough and powerful, yet only a teenage girl. Rumor has it, you’re pretty strong.” Until he heard the rumors, he had always found it puzzling why this section of the city had the lowest body count.
“So what’s the big idea, jumping out at me like that?” Ellie asked, a sudden coldness surfacing. “Think I’d have an off day or something?”
“What do you mean?” Shadow asked. “I wasn’t trying for anything.”
Ellie frowned. “You were acting like you were trying to pick a fight,” she said, then snapped her fingers, causing the ice to fade away. “If you weren’t picking a fight, then what were you doing?”
“The thing is–”
A loud explosion from above interrupted him. He had to cover his eyes from the blinding red and orange lights, streaking through the sky.
Ellie glanced up and frowned. “Since when do they let off fireworks in the middle of January?”
“No, this can't be happening! I thought I had more time!” Shadow exclaimed, fear forming in his eyes.
“What's wrong?” Ellie asked.
Shadow sighed. “This was a mistake. I was a fool to think that you would understand everything, that I could explain it all before it was too late.”
“Wait, what are you talking about, dude? You’ve explained nothing. And what do you have to do with the sky going all Fourth of July on us?”
“I don’t have time for this!” Shadow shouted. “There’s too much to explain and not enough time. I gotta hurry and warn the others.” He turned and started to walk away.
“Oh, hell, no,” Ellie replied angrily, throwing her hands up. Light blue energy flowed from them, forming sharp icicles in the air. “I told you before, I am not in the mood for some cryptic mind game. Explain or be impaled.”
Shadow smiled in spite of himself. “All right. I’ll tell you everything. Just listen carefully, because I don’t have time to explain it twice. It’s… kind of a long story.”
“You’ve got my full attention,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes. “Thrill me.”
“All right. I’m assuming that you also know about all things preternatural, the creatures and demons that exist in our world. Correct?”
Ellie nodded, not breaking eye contact. “I’m guessing this has a point? Let me simplify it. Who, or actually, what are you, anyway?”
Shadow blinked at her coolly. “What do you mean?”
“Please, I’m not an idiot. You’re definitely not human; humans don’t just…fall like that. You know, when you were coming at me, you did everything but float down. I wasn’t born yesterday. So what are you?”
Shadow frowned. “I’m…a Dhampir.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Essentially, I’m half-vampire and half-human.”
“Humans and vampires getting together – that’s actually thing?” Ellie frowned. “I thought that was just something made up by authors to sell books to impressionable young girls.”
“Unfortunately, I’m proof it’s a thing. I don’t have time to explain the logistics of it, but there it is. Take it or leave it.”
Ellie held up her hands in faux-surrender. “Okay, fine. Clearly, this is a touchy subject.”
“You have no idea,” Shadow replied stiffly. “Anyway, have you ever wondered about the source of your own powers? Like, why you possess them and where they originated from?”
Ellie shook her head. “No. I always thought they were just something I was born with. You know, like some are born with freckles or blue eyes.”
Shadow laughed. “Hardly, but I’ll explain. The Bible talks about how God said, ‘Let there be light,' but it doesn’t talk about what existed before that.”
“There was something before that?”
“Yes. You see, thousands of years ago, before God decided to create mankind, there was darkness. Stirring in the darkness were evil creatures. Some call them gods, others call them demons, but both names are wrong. Those evil creatures were the Valdemalum, or great evil. The Valdemalum existed then, and they exist now, but in lesser form.”
Ellie paled. “They still exist?”
“Well, not in the same form. When God came from wherever and bathed the world in light, these evil being shattered into pieces, no longer whole entities, but separate lesser ones. And from there, they spread out and became the first demons.”
“Why didn’t God do anything to help his children?”
“He did. He created powerful warriors known as Angels. They descended from the heavens to protect the humans, which helped, but even they could not fully withstand the evil and hate from the Valdemalum. Eventually, some of the angels were corrupted and fell from grace. In fact, one of them became what is known by people today as the devil.”
Ellie nodded slowly. “I see, but what does all this have to do with me and my powers?”
“Our ancestors were the very first humans. And after hundreds of years of being exposed to the demonic and angelic energies over time, these humans adapted and evolved with certain abilities to fight back, to save our world. You, Ellie, are one of those special few. Think of it as nature evening the playing field, so to speak.”
“I see,” she said, attempting to process it all. “What about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You say 'our ancestors’, but you’re not fully human. I mean, unless you’re suggesting that vampirism is a gift passed down?”
Shadow shook his head in ire. “Vampirism is both a disease and a curse. Don’t ever think of it as a gift, but a contagion that destroys anyone inflicted.”
“Then how does vampirism fit into your theory of abilities being a gift?”
“People in ancient times thought that if they consumed the blood and flesh of fallen demons, they could capture their power. Idiots, that’s what they were. All that they gained by consuming the demons was corruption. The moment that the demonic essence entered their bodies, they lost their souls and became the first human-demon hybrids, the first vampires.”
“Well, this was a nice history lesson and all, but why does any of this concern me?” Ellie asked, staring him down.
“Remember those lights earlier that you compared to fireworks? Yeah, that was actually a major omen. Which pretty much signifies that all hell is going to break loose soon.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“In my youth, I met this woman…a powerful seer. My adopted parents sent me to her so I could learn to control my abilities. She provided guidance to me for the last several years. She’s the one who informed me about what’s on the way and what needs to be done in order to stop it.”
“And when is all this supposed to go down, exactly?” Ellie looked away.
“The exact time hasn’t been determined, but she believes it won’t be until the first light of summer. That gives us all about four or five months, maybe less, to prepare for it.”
“There you go again, talking in plural pronouns again. Who’s 'we'?”
“You, myself, and the rest of the teenagers with special abilities that I’ve already recruited. That’s why I’m here. You were one of the last that I had to find, and I’m glad I was able.”
Ellie frowned. “So you’ve been, what, adopting us like puppies?”
He smirked. “I wish it was that easy. I got attacked by demons and other beings a few times along the way, not to mention you trying to fight me, so hardly as simple as that.”
“So where are the others?”
“They’re waiting for me to come back after I recruit the last few on my list, at my�
�our home.”
“I see,” Ellie said, just staring at him. “I’m honestly not sure how to process all of this.”
Shadow pulled a small device out of his pocket. He threw it to her, and she caught it instantly, without hesitation. The object looked almost like a cellphone. It was black with blue streaks around the sides, buttons on the bottom, and a large screen in the center. “If you’re in, you’ll need that device. It’s how we all communicate with one another.” He opened his mouth to speak again, pausing as he saw the confusion in her eyes. “I understand that you’re confused and that my explanation has probably left you with a lot more questions than answers. But for now, you’ll just have to trust me.” He waved his hand over the ground, and a large, glowing black hole appeared.
“What the hell is that?” Ellie nearly jumped back in alarm.
“It will take you to where I live. Please wait there. You’ll find the others there. One of them, Ethan, will be able to fill you in on the rest. I have to go find the last two before someone or something else does first.”
Ellie frowned, throwing him a dirty look. “What makes you think I’m that naïve? This is like a whole new level of taking candy from a stranger.”
Shadow shook his head. “Candy, huh? I never thought of that before. Maybe I should have brought some. But humor me for a second?”
“What?”
“I know all of this is strange and I know it doesn’t make much sense to you. But I promise that what I’ve said is true and I mean you no harm. They say that eyes are the gateway into the soul. If I have bad intentions, you should be able to tell simply by looking into my eyes.”
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