Fading Into Darkness: The Under Series Book 2

by Dakota Lake

Outside had turned to darkness and a cool breeze whipped hair around my face. We stood at the edge and he leaned over and looked at the ground below.

  “How good are you at climbing?” he asked.

  “You do realise the last time I went climbing I apparently fell and hit my head which left me unconscious for eight months.” I said looking at the floor below.

  I knew it wasn't true. I hadn't been in a coma from falling out of a tree. I remembered Senka had said something to Cam about fading with me. I think whatever Cam had done with me this fading had left me in a coma and messed up my memory.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” he said swinging his leg over the wall so he was straddling it. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Well we can't take the front door with you dressed like that, so we'll take the trellis.” he said swinging his other leg over so he was standing on the other side with his feet in between the gaps in the balcony wall.

  “Senka that's not funny, get back here.”

  “It's okay, stop panicking. Now get over here.” he laughed holding his hand out for me. I reluctantly took it and stepped over to him so the balcony wall was between us.

  “I do this all the time.”

  “Do what all the time? Climbing the down trellis or climbing off my balcony?”

  He smiled and spun me around and pulled me back to him and lifted me up so I was sitting on the wall. “I'm not going to let you fall.”

  I nodded and lifted my legs onto the side and put one over like he had done.

  “Put your foot in the gap, and lift your other leg over.” I did as he said, holding onto the balcony tightly.

  Senka's arm looped around my waist holding me tightly against him.

  “You're not afraid of heights are you?” he asked.

  “I don't know?” I replied.

  I honestly had no idea whether I used to be afraid of heights or not.

  “Well just encase don't look down. Now put your arms around my neck.”

  “Why?”

  “You didn't think I was going to let you climb down yourself did you? I've seen how clumsy you are?”

  “Am not.” I replied without needing to think about it.

  “You would say that.” he laughed. “Ready?”

  “Hmm,” I said briefly glancing down below. I moved my hand across his back and over his shoulder and held on tightly then I slowly let go of the balcony and put my other hand on his shoulder. He leaned forward and I climbed onto his back hooking my legs around him. I suddenly felt like a child having a piggy back.

  “Now all you have to do is hold on tight and don't let go.”

  “I'm too heavy we're going to fall to our deaths.”

  “Stop that. You feel as light as a feather to me.”

  “Ha ha.” I knew I wasn't that light.

  Senka started moving down, I kept my eyes firmly shut and held on tight.

  “What if someone sees us?”

  “They won't, not unless the guards are hiding in the bushes below. It's dark no one will see. Stop panicking.”

  I counted in my head I had no idea why I was counting but it seemed to distract me from wanting to look down every few seconds. I'd only counted to twenty five when I felt Senka's hands on my arms.

  “Ruby you can let go now.” He laughed.

  I opened my eyes and let go dropping to the floor. Senka pulled my hood up over my head and took my hand. We crossed the grass and stayed off the path. We were nearly at the gravelled drive when we both heard crunching on the stones. Senka pulled me behind a tree and I couldn't help giggling. Senka grinned and covered my mouth with his hand, but it didn't help much.

  “Stop it!” he said trying not to laugh. “We're meant to be sneaking out remember?” We both heard male voices and I was still trying my best not to giggle. Senka moved closer to me and pushed me back against the tree and pressed his finger to my lips. “Shhh!” he said quietly. Having Senka in such close proximity seemed to distract me temporarily and soon enough the voices were gone. We hurried across the grass and jogged along the drive until we came to the garages. There were eight double garages and we stopped at the fourth one. Senka knocked on the garage door and gave me a cheeky smile just before it started to open. He pulled me out of the way as the door lifted. The fluorescent lights spilled out onto the ground.

  I followed Senka around the corner were a large black SUV was parked. There were two guys inside the garage, one leaning against the car and the other one stood by the door switch, I remembered his name was Jack but I didn't know about the other one.

  “Ruby this is Jack,” Senka said looking at the boy near the door switch. Jack had floppy brown hair and was dressed casually in jeans and a varsity jacket. “And this is Rex,” he said smirking at the other boy.

  Rex had shaved black hair, stretched ear piercings and colourful tattoos that were visible on his hands and neck. Normally I would have been a little hesitant or even frighted of someone that looked like that but his outfit made him look less intimidating.

  I looked over at Senka. “Don't ask,” he laughed opening the car door for me.

  “What? It's really comfy.” Rex said putting the hood up on his black cat onesie.

  I sat in the back and Jack climbed in next to me, there was another row of seats behind us. Senka sat in the seat in front of me and Rex climbed in behind the wheel. Rex reversed the car out and we slowly made our way along the drive. My hands were clammy and I felt like I was coming out in a cold sweat. A million different thoughts were going round in my head about how badly this could turn out.

  Senka turned around in his seat and looked over at me. “Ruby, relax it's going to be okay.” he said. Jack handed me a pair of black shades. “Put these on, push your hair back and keep your hood up.” I slipped them on and looked at Senka. “We're nearly at the gate, take this and pretend you're looking at it and they shouldn't bother you.” Senka said handing me his cell.

  Senka spun back around and I could see the lights from the gate up ahead. I pulled the hood further over my head and slumped back into my seat. The main gates were tall black iron gates and were lit up with large overhead spotlights. On this side of the gates there was a tall square building, with an open window where someone sat. The top of the square building was a look out where another guard was posted. On the other side of the gates there was a small guards box with two more guards. Rex rolled down his window and pulled up next to the building.

  “Hey, what's up!” Rex said leaning out his window talking to someone. I quickly looked back at the cell forgetting I wasn't meant to be looking around. A torch light flashed through the car but I kept my head down resisting the urge to look up at whoever was flashing the light on me. “You guys headed to work or into town?” the guard asked.

  “Err town tonight.” Rex replied.

  “Well the town is celebrating tonight. There was a wedding earlier today.”

  I heard crunching on the gravel as the guard walked away. I carefully looked up to see the gates in front opening. I couldn't believe I was going to be on the outside for the first time and headed into town. Maybe it was this Heaven's Point that Mack had mentioned before?

  Rex steered the car right and onto a road which had dense trees on either side. He speeded up and the trees soon whizzed past the windows. Rex made a whooping sound and Senka turned round in his seat to look at me. I removed the glasses and went to hand them back to Jack. “Leave them on the door, for when you come back.” he said as he leaned into the front trying to reach the radio controls.

  “Seriously, are you trying to sit on my lap?” Senka asked joking as Jack leaned over him. “Just switch Jack.” Senka said squeezing under him and pulling himself into the back next to me. He took his cell back and pulled my hood down and took the cap off my head and hooked it over the drivers seat. “We're out now you don't need to hide anymore.”

  “What's this town we're going to?” I asked.

  “Brackelburn,” Rex said in a funny high pitc
hed voice.

  I looked at Senka. “Is he being serious?” I asked unsure.

  “Yep, it's really called Brackelburn.” he replied.

  I felt partly disappointed hoping we were heading to Heaven's Point. But any town was better than no town if it meant a couple of hours away from the manor which was starting to feel more like a prison.

  Jack continued flicking through radio stations. “Signals crap down here tonight can't get anything.” he complained.

  “They've got really bad weather up there today it's probably messing with the signal. Just pick a CD already.” Rex said.

  Jack reached under his seat for something and a few moments later he popped a CD in. Loud and unfamiliar hip hop music blared out the speakers but Jack didn't seem satisfied with the volume and cranked it up another few notches.

  “What's this town like?” I asked looking at Senka hoping he would hear me.

  “It's probably not what you're expecting.” he smiled and gently pulled on the ends of my hair. I watched out the window at the passing trees, the road was straight and seemed to go on forever with only a few turns. I thought the trees seemed to be whizzing by faster than before so I looked over at the speedometer and suddenly felt the need to hold onto the door handle. Senka leaned in closer to me.

  “He's not going to crash. We'll be there in a minute.”

  I looked out the window and saw an old wooden sign sticking out the ground. Brackelburn was carved into the wood.

  Rex pulled the SUV over to the side of the road and into a dirt pull in, I looked through the front window but didn't see a town in sight. I knew it was dark but I couldn't see anything. Senka learned across me and opened the door.

  “Why have we stopped?” I asked as Senka nudged me out the door.

  “The villagers don't like us driving into their town so we park outside.”

  “What, why not?” I asked confused.

  “You'll see when we get there. Let's just say this town is a little old fashioned in their ways.” Senka said taking my hand and pulling me alongside him.

  I looked ahead in the direction we were walking and heard the beat of a drum. We followed the road which was a straight dirty mud track. I could faintly see the outlines of the other two in front of us and in the distance I could see two small lights that seemed to be flickering. Up ahead the sound of beating drums grew louder. My eyes kept searching the trees and I found myself clinging onto Senka with my other hand.

  “Are we safe?” I whispered to him.

  “Yes, tonight we are safe.” he laughed softly near my ear.

  I wondered what he meant by tonight?

  Jack let out a loud howl into the sky mimicking a wolf.

  “JACK! What the hell man.....cut it out. That's not funny.” Rex said smacking him. “Relax I checked the calender, full moon isn't for another four days.” Jack replied. I looked up at the night sky. There was not one star insight, I was beginning to wonder if they even existed anymore as I hadn't seen any since I'd been here and during the day the clouds always seemed to mask the sun and even now the clouds covered the moon. Another thing I had questions about. I was starting to question where I really was?

  The dirt track swerved off to the right and we veered off and walked into the overgrown grass. The sound of drums and other musical instruments grew louder and I could now see the lights in front were actually two burning torches. We walked under the trees and into the forest. I was about to say something and ask where on earth we were going when a pair of large wooden gates came into view. The wooden gate had gaps in it and looked to be made out of thin trees, either side of the gate had a tall wall of tree fencing that disappeared into the forest on each side. There was someone on the other side moving around. Rex stepped up onto the gate and stuck his face in between a gap peeking through. I saw Jack looking at me, he smiled and looked back at the gate. “Err Senka where are we?” I asked. But before I got a response someone jumped out of a near by bush.

  “Show your faces?” a short man with a deep gruff voice shouted.

  I jumped and stepped back into Senka. The man held a cross bow moving it back and fourth between Jack and I. He had a thick red beard and mattered looking hair and was dressed in strange old fashioned clothes and a pair of boots that definitely didn't look like they had been purchased at any hight street store. He also wore a loose cape that hung down his back, it reminded me of the way Cam dressed.

  Rex jumped down. “Gunther,” he said to the man.

  “Rex,” he replied, resting his cross bow over his shoulder. “I was just practising. It helps the night pass quicker.” Gunther said, his eyes jumping back and fourth between us all. “And who do we have here?” Gunther asked eyeing me up and down.

  “This is Ruby. She's just one of the servant girls from the castle.” Rex replied.

  “Servant girl huh, a rather pretty one as well. I still haven't found me a wife,” he said in his thick accent.

  “Err...” I said not sure where he was going with that sentence.

  “Sorry Gunther this one's already spoken for.” Jack said winking at me.

  “Well no harm in asking. Seems everyone else is getting married but me. Our little Mary Ann got married to William today that's what all the noise is, they're still celebrating but you are quite welcome to join in.” Gunther said smiling at me which showed a missing tooth in front. He walked over to the gate.

  “Oi Ronan.....Ronan wake up you useless rat.”

  “Huh....what is it?” replied the boy.

  A young teenage boy with dirty blonde hair appeared at a gap in the gate looking at us. “Ronan make yourself useful and open the gate for our friends.”

  “Yeah yeah...” Ronan said lazily sounding as bored as he looked.

  One of the large gates opened inwards and Ronan stood holding it open for us.

  Jack and Rex walked straight through, but I was still standing on the same spot wondering where we were. Senka grabbed my shoulders from behind and steered me through the gate. As we moved further away from the gate the music in front started to grow louder. “What's with all the security?” I asked Senka.

  “They're just careful about who they let in. It's a very closed off town they don't like strangers.” We walked along a row of wooden buildings that looked like homes, some had flowers and herbs growing outside in pots. We followed the boys in front as they cut in between two of the homes. We came out onto what looked like a small street but there was no road or cobbles just bare ground. There were wooden houses on both sides, most of them had been built off the ground on wooden stilts and had steps or ladders to access them. Some were taller than others with small windows, most of them were dark but a few had some light coming through the windows. It was as if we had stepped onto a movie set. Everything looked simple and hand made. Torches had been placed along the floor lighting the way. Outside one of the homes was a few small wooden pens which had two pigs in it and there were a group of chickens sitting close by on a wood beam sleeping. We came to a larger opening where there was an actually well in the middle of the floor. Two girls dashed out of a small house, they were wearing long dresses with braided hair, one had a dark cape over her shoulders and flowers in her hair. The pair of them stopped in front of Jack and Rex, giggled and ran ahead of us.

  I looked sideways at Senka, he was watching me carefully. He didn't say anything and neither did I, I was too busy taking it all in. The little street came to an end and turned off to the left but to the right I could see burning torches and people standing around. We stopped at the edge of the crowd and I suddenly felt completely out of place wearing jeans and a hoodie. I would have blended in better wearing one of my dresses. Jack ducked through the crowd and I lost sight of him. Rex looked back at us and stuck his thumb to the right and took off in that direction. Loud chatty girls came up behind us and stepped around us, a couple of them looked me up and down and the other girls were smiled at Senka as they passed. I looked up at him, he was returning their smiles. “Come
on,” he said ducking down to my ear level.

  He steered me through the crowd of people that were clapping and laughing then he pulled into the middle and we zigzagged around dancing couples, girls and small children. I looked back and saw where the source of the loud drums was coming from, a group of men sat playing them over in the corner. We kept walking and passed rows of tables that were laid out with candles and different kinds of foods. Senka held my hand and kept me close by his side. We passed many different faces, some looked at Senka while others completely ignored him. Some tried to avoid him but most of the girls were giggling and smiling at him.

  “I think I would have blended in better in my dress.”

  “Probably, but I don't want to lose you and I don't want some farmer boy running off with you.” “I doubt anyone would want to run off with me.”

  “Wanna bet?” he said smirking at me.

  “Senka where are the lights?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked looking at the tables with the candles on.

  “There's no street lights anywhere. Why are there only torches?”

  “There's no electricity down here.”

  “What? We get electric back at the manor.”

  “That's because we are directly under Emmett's....err....” he said stuttering. I looked over at him. “Directly under what?” I asked.

  “Look out,” he said quickly pulling me out the way of a group of small boys running towards us. We carried on walking and I waited for him to continue but he didn't. I was about to ask again when a girl with long wavy blonde hair jumped in front of us and before I knew what was happening she had reached up and flung her arms round Senka's neck, he dropped my hand and hugged her back. I stood awkwardly waiting for her to release him. If I was honest I was a tad bit jealous. Okay maybe more than a tad bit. All I wanted to do was reach over and pull her off of him.

  She smiled and pulled back to look at him but still held onto him. “Hello Senka,” “Hi Nilah,” he said, even I noticed the twinkle in his eyes.

  She finally tore her eyes away from him and looked over at me.

  “Oh hello, who are you?” she asked.