Prologue

A short prologue.

He stood silhouetted against the rising moon. Wind whipped through the air, tearing leaves from trees. Shadows spun as people with lanterns and hands holding fire or sunlight charged through the forest. The figure ducked down, out of sight, melding to the shadows of a tree. The search party raced past, not knowing that their quarry had evaded them. He stood again when they passed, running in the other direction. Towards the palace.

Inside the domed room that served as a cafeteria, he slipped from shadow to shadow. Not that anyone was there to see him. Large black double doors creaked open, and he crept inside. An empty room. And hidden, in a box under the bed. A notebook. Just where he’d left it.

With the leather-bound book in hand, he dissolved into shadow.

A passing girl noticed the doors standing open. She shivered and walked quickly away. A boy in a too-big kefta ran past too quickly to notice anything but a chill down his spine. Finally, three figures, two women and a man, all in keftas of different colors, walked by purposefully. The first stopped. “Weren’t those closed?”

“Zoya, we don’t have time,” the second woman said.

“I know, but Genya… the doors were locked. No one had a key.”

“Maybe the attack was a diversion. Was there something in here he could’ve wanted?” The man asked.

“The rooms were searched, David. There was nothing worth taking.”

“Evidently, they didn’t search hard enough,” David quipped, stepping into the room. “This box. Where did it come from?”

“Look.” Genya lifted the edge of the covers, revealing the space underneath the bed. “The dust is disturbed.”

“He must’ve had something important in the box,” Zoya whispered.

“We need to get it back,” Genya said forcefully.

“I know,” Zoya replied. “It could be anything…”

David clenched his fists. “It could mean the end of the world.”

Author's Note

A notebook... hmm... and who might this figure be? Not that hard to guess =)

Reviews

[Locke Redwyne (night sy..]

Huh
nice writing, interesting, suspenseful