Edge of Darkness - Ep 01

Kelly a mysterious crime fighter, uncertain of her own history teeters on the edge of darkness as she strives to fight crime and unlock her origins.

The rain beat down, creating a brightly coloured blur above the city as the lights fought their way through. Kelly stood on the edge of the roof of the Presley Building and swept her gaze across the city. From aloft the city seemed quite serene and peaceful, 61 floors below the odd police car passed by, but the sidewalks were bare. It was a little past 2am, so that may have contributed to the stillness somewhat.

Beneath the quite, Kelly knew, the criminal underground ran still. The violent beast of the underground never rested. It’s greatest achievement thus far had been its deception of the common man that it had in fact gone into hiding. A brief gust of wind made her long coat flap, flicking droplets of water in a light shower. Kelly stepped back from the edge, then lept forward... over the edge.

The Edge of Darkness

9pm

A cluster of police vehicles cluttered the side walk outside the Presley Building, as the rain poured down soaking everything in its reach. Officer Jake Mullins sighed as he pulled his cruiser door open, and reached inside for his coat. It was wet and cold, and not his favourite sort of weather. 

“What’s happening.” A voice asked from behind him. 

Officer Mullins turned to find an attractive young woman standing on the sidewalk. She wore a long black coat, but oddly had seen no need for an umbrella. 

“Nothing that will concern you ma’am. Please keep moving.” He shut the door and walked away.

As he walked away, there was a slight squeak of tires, followed by slamming doors, rushed voices and running feet. Kelly turned to see the press van had arrived. Channel 9 News was usually the first on the scene, but today somehow Life News, a local independent station had beaten them. Tasha Coolidge, the station onsite reported pushed past her without even so much as a ‘hi’, but the sound guy, Nathan, gave her a courteous nod.

“What’s going on?” Kelly asked as he passed her by.

“Hostage situation on the 54th floor.” he paused, “but I didn’t tell  you.” He smiled and followed the news posse.

Kelly turned and walked across to the Mason building, directly opposite the Presley building, and slipped into a dark alley. She glanced back once to see that nobody had paid her any attention. She moved until she found the fire escape and pulled it down. She climbed swiftly up the fire escape until she reached the roof. The air was much cooler up there, and Kelly crossed the gravel roof until she reached the edge and peered down at the commotion below. Two more news vans had arrived, Channel 7 and 3. With all the attention on the Presley nobody was going to notice her up there. 

Kelly turned her attention to the 54th floor of the Presley. The Mason was 61 floors high so the the Presley floor was a little out of her line of sight. Whoever was holding hostages knew enough not to keep them in a window office. This would be easy.

Stepping back from the roof edge, Kelly stretched out her arms and legs, feeling the servo’s in her joints move, and the muscles expand and contract. Her coat flapped slightly in the draught as she unbuttoned it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black face mask and slipped it on. It was a black and looked a bit like a hard plastic surgical mask with breathing holes. It’s new sponge rubber lining made a clean seal against her skin. Next she undid her pony tail and let her black hair fall down around her face, leaving only her eyes and the bridge of her nose visible. Next came her gloves and she was ready.     Kelly took another four steps back, paused a moment then thrust herself forward. One, two, three, four, five, she counted the steps in her head as she ran. On five she launched herself over the edge. The droplets of the now falling rain splashed against her skin. The lights and activity below flash below her. The window drew nearer. Kelly drew her arms up to protect her face and turned her shoulder into the window pane, and it shattered with the impact. She hit the floor with a thud, and rolled, quickly regaining her footing. 

She was in a boardroom. 

The door was unlocked so she slipped into the unlit corridor. The lack of response from whomever was holding the hostages told her that either he or she was working alone, or nobody was aware of her incursion. Either way it bade well for her. She found the stairwell and crept down. The hostages were on the floor below in the one of the adjoining offices that were set a little way away from the windows. Smart. Or chance. Who knew. Who cared. There was no guard in the corridor or in the bigger window office, leading Kelly to the conclusion that this was a small operation. The office block was one of the older building in the area so the doors had not yet been upgraded with yale locks. Kelly knelt down by the door and peeked in through the key-hole. Seven hostages, two armed men and a lunatic with a sword. This was going to get interesting very fast.

What happens next? Stay tuned for the next episode of Edge of Darkness