Chapter 1

Chapter 1

(Shadow)

          “What the heck happened?” I asked the other people. I could not see anything in front of me. I could hear the other people in the room though. For some reason, the smoke and fire was gone.

          “Quick, follow the sound of my voice! We need to stay together!” The girl with the maroon hair and green eyes said loudly and slowly. There was a shuffling of feet and muffled gasps whenever someone hit something or someone. Once we were all in the same relative location, I saw a dim light heading our way. The girl that owned this house gasped.

          “Are we in heaven?” She asked in awe. I looked at her like she was crazy, but she didn’t see me. What a stupid little kid. I thought to myself. She wasn’t even supposed to be here. If she had just left us, we would have been fine and her parents wouldn’t have died. I was about to answer her question, but I decided it would be better for someone else to do it. It was the girl who gave the instructions first who answered,

          “I don’t think so. Heaven has much more light and happiness. This almost seems like when you are in a forest and the sun is setting. Do you know what I mean?”  I heard the little girl explain how she had gotten lost in a forest and all that other stuff. I was about to object to what the other girl had said, but that was when a man about thirty years old walked up to us. Do you know how freaky it is having a complete stranger walk up to you out from darkness? Yea, you should try it sometime. Actually, don’t try it, because that is just asking for stranger danger and other stuff, if you know what I mean.

Thanks to the light, I could see the other’s faces. The girl with the blond hair and golden eyes was looking at the stranger with uncertainty. The girl with the maroon hair and green eyes was looking at the stranger in confusion. The other girl looked shocked and scared at the same time.

          “I am Demosthenes, God of wine.” He said deeply, “I have a gift for each of you. Shadow, please step forward.” He said it like he wasn’t the crazy one. He said it like we all knew what he was talking about. The only problem with that is… I didn’t get it. I looked up at the “God” like he was completely nuts.

“Do you think I’m stupid? Why the hell do you think I would want to come up to some random stranger and trust that he will give me a gift? Are you on some kind of medication?” I said with as much scorn as I could muster, which was a lot actually. Everyone gasped and stared at me, but I could tell they were thinking the same thing. Demosthenes didn’t seem to be offended by the rude questions, though.

“I come to recruit you into my gang. I have watched you from the time you were born and I liked the way you turned out. My client, Mr. Crawners, has four children that need protection from the other gangs in the world. They are trying to kill them and take over the world.”

“So you expect us to just believe you and risk our lives for these kids we don’t even know? That sounds like the most stupid thing I have ever heard!” I exclaimed.

“There are certain… surprises along the way. If you choose to accept my offer, they will help you. I must warn you though. The going is very tough. Four kids like you might not be able to handle it.” Demosthenes said, chuckling a little. That ended it. I was not going to just stand by and let this stupid person say I was weak and couldn’t have a bunch of “little surprises”. I knew my eyes were turning black because I saw that stupid wine god glance uncertainly at them. Good, I wanted him to be afraid. I marched up to him one step at a time, Getting angrier and angrier by the moment. I stopped about three feet from him.

“Listen to me when I say this. I’m not afraid of anything or anyone. Bring it on! We’re ready for anything.”

“I’m not ready. I’m scared.” Soul said. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to calm myself down. Why did little kids have to be so scared all the time?

“So you believe me?” Demosthenes asked, recomposing himself.

“I believe you, but you better not try anything funny.” I said. Demosthenes nodded and spoke in a deep, raspy voice that was not his.

          “Shadow, you were abandoned by your father before you were born, and your dear mother died giving birth to you. Because of this, you have never really known love. I give you the touch of death. With this power, you can take away life from anyone you would like. Use it wisely.” Awsome! I got the gift of death! Sure it was a bunch of bogus, but it was nice to know he understood me. I turned and walked away a little distance from Demosthenes to see the rest get their gifts. I could see the girl with blond hair shiver as the god called her up next. She walked up the Demosthenes on shaky feet.