Prologue: Entity

Roy Vernon was not an intelligent man, nor was he handsome; his scattered yellowed teeth aged him and his broad frame made him appear brutish. As a rule, Roy liked seclusion, he saw little need for friends and few individuals attempted to be one to him. In spite of this he was a considerate man, silently offering assistance to those in need without seeking compensation. Hence he commanded a certain level of respect among the little village he called home and though an admirable trait it was this stoic sense of compassion that led to his premature death.

Roy had been chopping wood beside his crude brick house when a girl barely the age of ten came crawling out of the small forest that surrounded his home. Her pale skin was dirty, her barely recognisable alabaster white hair clung to her face, her clothes tattered and worn.

'You lost girl?' Roy’s gruff voice broke, the fair child’s filth speckled face nodded. 'What's your name?' he questioned further, the stern man was met with silence and a blank stare.

He repeated himself but louder this time, assuming she was faint of hearing, still he received no response. Dropping his blunting axe into his designated tree stump he glanced at the girl then walked to retrieve something from inside. Returning shortly with a torn piece of loaf and a clay jar of animal fat.

'Are you hungry?' He asked lifting the bread and slather.

The skittish girl warily approached, looking back to the forest she emerged from as if she were being watch. Barely an arms length away and she snatched the food from Roy, cracking open the wax seal on the fat and dipping the coarse bread in it. She moved the hair from her face as she desperately ate, something the colour of soot slithered behind the girls dirty white curtain of hair. Roy shook his head obviously his eyes deceived him, looking back at the girl he nodded in approval as his offering was scarfed down.

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He attempted to question the petite child, 'Where are you from?'

Silence

'How did you get here?'

Momentarily the girl paused and stared at the woodcutter but still gave nothing. Eventually Roy gave up, his efforts offering no rewards, so he took to leaning on the brick wall and waited for her to finish. After devouring the last bite, the girl wiped her face roughly with her sleeve then gave the clay jar back still concious of her surroundings.

As Roy took back the jar his eyes caught hers, he saw now how unnaturally dark hers were, it was as if the pupil had swallowed up her iris. Roy was tempted to flinch away unnerved by the childs abberant feature. Controlling that instinct he instead turned to put away the jar, but he didn’t make it far before the girl crippled over. She coughed and spluttered violently, falling to her knees, as she vomited black phlegm. She keeled over onto her hands breathing heavily.

'Girl!' He bellowed urgently, running back over to her, 'What's wrong?' Rushing to her and grasping the girls shoulders he shook her. He grabbed her face as her eyes started to glaze over black and something dark slithered from her back neck. Roy yelped his grip loosening as she went limp.

Roy didn't comprehend what happened next; something organic and grotesque pierced through his heart. The girl was gone, instead wet dark tendrils had replaced where she had lain on the grass. He couldn't make sense of what his eyes were seeing, the shadow was like a nightmare incarnated. It’s body looked as if it were made of worm and bone and it dripped with black. It was a cruel, vicious entity and it reeked of desolation. Roy felt the soft grass enveloping him as everything else began to numb. He found himself staring at his chest, a ebony fleshy like sword was in place, a strange sort of calm washed over him, an unnatural kind of peace, it was bitten with a tired kind of melancholy, the feeling soon dissiapated and Roy was glad of it. It no longer felt as though his soul was being drained.

His ears started to ring, and a sharp pain cut through him. It was suddenly hard to breathe, the thing that had pierced his heart was gone and now a gaping hole took its place. Something warm snaked around him, he could make out someone standing over him, they had chased away the shadowy monster and replaced it with the smell of vetiver, his eyes began to cloud. Roy’s last thoughts were of the warmth of the violet flame and a velvet voice muttering apologies as his light was extinguished.

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