The Spirit Of The Night

Chapter 6

"9.......10, I am coming." A small eight year old Alex said finishing counting. She and her friends, Silvea and Razim were playing hide and seek on the small hill near the old graveyard.

Alex stepped out of the shadows of the brick wall on top of the hill to get a better look at where her friends could be hiding. She was really good at this. At the foot of the hill there was the old graveyard with its rusty black railing and odd yet beautifully constructed headstones and tombs. A small, narrow road led from the graveyard to the small town of Sven.

The town was nothing but a cluster of about 30 small stone cottages. There was the statue of Spen the founder of the little Strigoi town at the foot of the Demos mountains.

( in case you guys are wondering Strigois are human like beings with fangs, extremely fast reflexes, agility and strength. They are born fighter and their diet only consists of flesh.)

It was almost sundown and Alex checked the horizon for any sign of danger but there was nothing unusual. It had been a week now since she fled from Tenebris and from Aerosmith's greedy clutches. For the first few days she had been terrified that Aerosmith would come for her; but now that feeling of dread was slowly being replaced by hope and happiness.

She now lived with Silvea and her family. Here she felt happy and secure. She finally felt like she belonged somewhere, like she had a home.

Alex headed down the hill towards one of the oldest graves in the right hand corner of the graveyard. She had already spotted Silvea's bright red hair disappearing behind it.

"Caught you!" Alex squeaked jumping on Silvea from behind one of the graves. "Ah! You always manage to find me!" Silvea exclaimed. The little fangs peeking out from the sides of her broad grin made the little girl with bright red hair, deep set eyebrows and grey eyes look even more prettier.

Both the girls looked up as it became dark all of a sudden. Black clouds seemed to have come out of nowhere and cover the already darkening sky.

"It is getting dark, we should find Razim and head home." Silvea said frowning, her voice tinged with concern. Alex nodded as both of them set out to find Razim.

Silvea was two years older than her so Alex looked up to her as a sister and a best friend. "We should split up." Alex suggested.

"Good idea." Silvea replied moving towards the western part of the graveyard while Alex went to the eastern part.

"Razim!" Alex called out for the umpteenth time. She had searched high and low but there was not a single trace of Razim. Somehow Silvea had disappeared too. Alex had noticed a few minutes ago that she could not hear Silvea's voice anymore.

Scared, worried and very confused Alex headed down the small narrow road towards the town. Maybe they went home, Alex thought desperately hoping that everything was alright.

Any hope that she had was shattered as she entered the town.

The town was deserted. All the streets were empty; the doors and windows of the cottages were shut tight. An Erie silence hung in the air. As if all the residents of the town were holding their breathe.

Anxiety, fear and curiosity mingled up inside Alex as she quickened her pace. Silvea's house was almost in the center of the town, right in front of the statue of Spen.

Just as she was about to enter the town square, she heard a sniffling sound. It sounded like a girl sobbing.

She cautiously went over and peeked from behind one of the barrels stacked near the town square.