Kuro: A Land in Eternal Night

Chapter 8.3: The Utter Darkness

As they left The Butterfly, Deke turned to both of them. "The Utter Darkness ain't a walk in the park. Keep your wits about you. Don't cause any trouble or Marauders'll turn their wolves on you."

Deke turned to Ava. "You have our smell on you," he said, his eyes looking right into hers. He laughed. "The Utter Darkness, it lingers with you, no matter how far up the plates you travel. Our smell never washes off, little girl."

Ava glowered at him, but bit her lip and remained silent.

Deke walked past several buildings, gradually leading them down ever darker alleyways, the neon lights disappearing entirely behind them. It was difficult to see now, even as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. The two began to hesitate.

Deke smiled, his slanted eyes, thin face and spiked skunk-stripe making him look even more sinister in the darkness. "Relax, kiddies. If I'd have wanted to kill you, I'd have done it by now. I'm not risking any Marauder heat, if you catch my drift. I'm in this 'cause I saw you guys hand Fox some pretty good paper, and I could use the GEUs, especially the untrackable kind. Plenty of dumb kids from the Upper Plates come here flashing their digitized GEUs. None of that's any good down here with the government watching all that like a hawk. Paper greases the wheels down here pretty good, though."

He nodded his head toward the south. "Union Jack's that way. We're taking the road less travelled and skipping the Marauder patrols if you don't mind. They're out a preyin' this fine day. Always after 'em young girls. Who knows what they do with them. You remember, don't you, little girl? The terror? Having to hide from them?" He grinned again.

Drake placed his hand on Ava's shoulder. "Don't mind him," he said, shaking his head. He saw Ava shudder again. She closed her eyes momentarily and smiled. "He's right," she said softly. "Nothing washes away the stain of being a denizen of the Utter Darkness. No matter how much I run away from it, my past comes back to haunt me."

Ava continued. "The sad part is that I do remember. The perils the Slumber brought, the howls of the wolves and the movement of the Marauders. I remember Mother crying, hugging me tight at night, swearing she would never let anyone take me. That they would have to take me over her dead body." Ava shook her head and smiled at Drake. "No one can ever truly understand what someone from the Utter Darkness has to live through." For a brief moment, there was a flash of anger in Ava's eyes. Drake felt like an outsider at that time, not understanding at all what Ava meant.

Ava quickly shook off her feelings and took Drake's hand in hers. Her touch was warm and reassuring. Ava smiled and looked at him. "You are the first person I've ever felt comfortable enough to finally share my past with," Ava said as she smiled that good-natured smile of hers. "Perhaps it's because you're humble. Or perhaps because you don't judge anyone. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because of Fala. In a strange way, Fala had always had a strange affinity for the Utter Darkness." Ava's expression darkened. "Perhaps I want justice for her just as much as you do..."

"Better snap back to attention, lady," Deke rudely cut into the conversation. "We are approaching Union Jack."

Union Jack proved to be a very different establishment from The Butterfly. While The Butterfly enticed its customers with its beautiful yet oddly tacky lighting, Union Jack made no such effort. It was a dilapidated wreck. Its only saving grace lay in its beautiful wrought-iron doors that seemed to be from another day and age. The ironwork depicted vines crawling around the doors, very tastefully done, but even the doors had not stood up well to the test of time. They were rusted in several places. The building was old and falling apart. The concrete was cracked in several places and the whole facade had a weary look to it. Had this been the Upper Plates, the building would have been condemned. A dark specter stood at the entrance – a large, copper statue of a man with an exceptional physique, face upward staring at the heavens, his arms pointing downward, with his palms out. The statue was naked, showing off the man's well-muscled attributes. An enterprising person had taken a sign and hung it below the statue, scribbling onto it the words 'Union Jack'.

Deke noticed Drake's interest in the statue and the building itself. "Union Jack's a focal point for hacker activity in the Utter Darkness," he explained, looking at the statue with some satisfaction. "Marauders don't like this place. Perhaps the spirit of Union Jack protects it."

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