The Netherworld is often associated with magic. Some strange realm that requires arcane spells or cursed jewelery to access. This is not true. The Netherworld is often mistaken as hell. The place where evil spirits reside and demons rule. This is not true. The Netherworld is however a place of darkness, but it is merely a different plane of existence. Whether Heaven or Hell exists is not at debate. Some souls do drift through the Netherworld on their way to their final resting place whatever that may be. Most of us are lucky enough to be too insensitive to feel it's presence. That was not the case for Sebastian and Angelica Walker.
Honey, you're really getting too old for this kind of thing. Cole Walker gently placed a hand on his daughter's blanketed knee as he sat on the edge of her bed.
Angelica clutched the covers close to her body and peered up at her father through tear-stained eyes.
Look, Cole stood up and spread his arms in a presenting manner, the lights are on and there's nothing in here. Just go back to sleep. He leaned in kissed the top of Angelica's head then exited the room flipping the switch as he went.
The girl closed her eyes and breathed in deep. She could feel it. She could hear it. The light being on didn't make a difference at all. It was there; watching.
Cole slid back into bed next to his wife as he let out an irritated sigh, She's going to be thirteen and she's still crying about monsters in the closet.
She'll grow out of it. His wife replied though still mostly asleep.
She's getting this from Sebastian. I don't know what to do with that boy.
As if on cue, Cole heard keys jangling and the front door close down stairs.
Aren't you going to go yell at him for being out past curfew? His wife asked, more awake than he had realized.
He sighed again, I just got back into bed. He can get yelled at in the morning.
Cole adjusted himself underneath the blankets and slid up next to his wife.
Sebastian started to remove his hooded sweatshirt then paused like a cat that just caught scent of a mouse. He dropped his keys and bolted up the stairs, stumbling at the top he burst into his sister's room. In the dark he could see Angelica sitting against the corner of the wall in her bed, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. Sebastian couldn't see clearly, but he knew she was crying and trembling, she held back from letting the tears gain a voice again. He flipped the light on.
Angie, it's okay. He lied.
Sebastian. She called out to him with a weak, trembling voice.
In the center of the room stood a shadowy black figure. If it had features they were too difficult to make out as darkness crept around as an ink droplet into a pool of water. It was shaped as a man but was certainly not human. Even with the light on the room seemed dark. There was a slight chill outside in the fall weather but inside Angelica Walker's room it was as cold as death.
Go away. Sebastian commanded to the living shadow.
The inky figure lifted what seemed to be an arm and pointed to the young girl emanating a strange fusion of a growl and a hiss.
No. The teenage boy responded calmly and cautiously inched his way around the dark figure in the center of the room towards his sister. Keeping his eyes locked on what he assumed was the creature's face, Sebastian reached a hand out behind him. Angelica grasped his hand as if it were the only line of safety from sinking ship.
What's going on, Sebastian?
You're gonna have to trust me, sis. He quickly squeezed her hand tightly. When I tell you to, run to my room. Don't look back.
Your room?
You'll be safe there.
But why? How? That doesn't-
Run! Sebastian cut her off mid-sentence and threw her towards the door.
Angelica stumbled from the unexpected push start but did as she was told and ran through the hall way. Angelica did almost as she was told; she looked back. Sebastian threw himself at the darkness that stood in the middle of room. The creature howled a frightening cacophony that sent a chill up Angelica's spine and sent her running again. She crashed into her brother's door and fell to the floor. Rolling onto her back she kicked the door shut. Outside in the hall, she heard her father's voice.
Sebastian! What the hell are you-
Suddenly it was more than quiet. Silence had been amplified as if all sound had ceased to exist. The lights were off in Sebastian's room but it somehow managed to get darker. The eerie cold crept into Angelica's skin. The same darker than black, inky substance reached under the door. Still sitting on the floor, Angelica scrambled away kicking wildly.
Sound returned to Angelica's ears like a sledgehammer. The strange growling hiss returned but this time with a hint of pain in its song. The eeriness melted away from her skin. The darkness returned from the black of death to the black of an unlit bedroom. A cricket chirped outside.
Sebastian? Angelica called out into the night to no response. Dad? She waited a moment. That moment felt like an eternity in the darkness. Mom? She wiped tears from her eyes with a shaky hand as she pushed herself to her feet and called out again, Sebastian!
Slowly, carefully, Angelica made her way to the door and fearing the worst, opened it just enough to peek outside into the hallway. Nothing. Just the light from her bedroom down the hall. She touched her bare toe to the hallway carpet as if testing the water of a swimming pool. As she tip-toed down the hall towards her bedroom, she looked into her parent's room; nothing. She finally made her way to the end of the hall to her room. Nothing. No Sebastian. Nothing. No creature. Nothing. Her bed remained, but there was nothing. Her dresser, her desk, her shelves all remained but the nothing she felt was inside of her. Angelica collapsed to her knees, fresh tears flowing from her eyes. Nothing.
[So at two in the morning I had the unfamiliar urge to write something and the subject happened to be characters that I've twisted into the world of City of Heroes. Angelica becomes the thugs/dark miasma mastermind, Soul Trigger and later the dark/dark defender, The Soul Sentry. Sebastian becomes the katana/dark armor scrapper, The Sentinel Shade.]
I took Moon Wing and then released it five minutes later, so I guess I could have left that, but eh... Oh well.