Darkness The Diary of Samantha Owen

Darkness

The Diary of
Samantha Owen

   
Ariadna Marrero Saavedra                                      

To my small family, with all my love
.

Pr
ologue

Eric
could be found sitting at the seashore, his gazed fixed on the horizon, remembering the good moments with his brother, until, just like all the other times he thought about him, the image of him dying in Eric’s arms appeared, unable to do anything to help. He felt powerless and fragile, something completely unthinkable for a son of the night. For this reason, in that instant, he decided to forget all of that suffering once and for all. He convinced himself that he must write a letter, venting all to he who had been his greatest confident up until his death two weeks ago. Words started to sprout in his mind and were being expressed on paper when he heard his new roommate, Gabriel, shouting from a distance. He could not understand what he was saying until he arrived by his side. He was euphoric.

“
I have found her.” He said with a smile that he could not withhold.

Eric
didn´t want to pay any attention to him, he had said the same thing on various occasions and, as far as girls were concerned, he had never got it right yet.

“
This time it is true,” he determined harshly, “I know she is the one.”

             
Eric didn´t like him, he wished to be alone. He didn´t understand why he was his new roommate, all he desired was the impossible, to have his brother back and not some stranger trying to save his life in case of danger, as dictated by law. He had been searching for his lost princess for three years, but since he had been with Gabriel five different girls had been brought to him and each error brought with it, its punishment upon the soul. Eric continued to look ahead distracted, while Gabriel went off in search of the love he believed to have lost years ago. Gabriel was strong and distant but when he believed that he had found his true love, he transformed into a different man. He appeared to be bewitched by her charms even though he had only seen her once. He walked through the dark streets searching for the girl he had been pursuing all day, until he found her house and he prepared to remember his splendid love. Meanwhile, Eric secretly followed him; he could not allow their mission to be placed in danger. If it were not the true princess, they would have to return to the kingdom and he had no desire to return to that ill-omened place from which he only wished to escape. He saw Gabriel enter through a window and stealthily close it. He retreated and hid so as to remain unseen, he felt frustrated for having the burden of this young man and his insane acts. He seemed bored and too suspicious of him from events in the kingdom. But when he saw her appear under the light of the moon, his negative thoughts vanished, falling enchanted by the sweet look of the girl that his cursed mate spoke with.

“
She is the same angel,” he whispered to himsel
f
.

He could not take his eyes
off of her; she had hypnotized him as no one had before. Seeing them come out to the street, he stayed hidden in the shadows, observing the beauty of the innocent young girl as they moved towards the sea.

DARKNESS

The Diary of Samantha Owen

Chapter 1

I had always asked myself what is there in
the darkness. Recently I found out and I would like to share it with you. You all have the right to know what is behind the shadows.

One hot summer’s day I found myself sitting at my desk, in front of the window, enjoying the light breeze that came in from the sea. Glued to my laptop, as the whole previous month, I searched for information on myths and legends. Every day I looked at the same pages,
hoping to find something new that I had not seen on my last visit, but it never happened. For as much I spent hours online, my searches were reduced to sporting myths and legends and very little more. I never found what I was looking for. It was so difficult to find something related to the shadows and the darkness of the night, myths of fantastic personages… I began to believe that they only existed in my imagination, but I was sure that there had to be something more, something like me. I did not consider myself to be normal, although I would never say that to anyone. My eyes were already red from looking at the screen when a page appeared, its title in the header: Legends of the night. It caught my attention and I was about to open it when I heard a noise close to me. I looked straight forward and saw a completely white cat with blue eyes staring at me. Since I had started my search for information, I had seen this cat every day, looking at me, as though he too wanted answers. I moved slowly towards it and lifted my hand to try and stroke him, but it displayed so much fury that he scratched me, leaving my hand bleeding. I ran to the bathroom to wash myself. I lifted my head and looked at my reflection in the mirror, I had to get out of here, I had spent too much time locked up. Anne had punished me, but I am not the most obedient. So I decided to go for a walk to clear my mind…

I arrived home at night, ready to get into bed. As I lost my gaze on the ceiling, I analyzed the day and the strangeness of my feelings. I remember having had the sensation of being followed at all times, but when I turned around to see who was there
, the presence disappeared.

The light of the moon entered through the window, right in front of my bed. When I fixed my sight on the desk below I could se
e something. “What I am seeing?” I asked myself. I was being to feel afraid. I remained very still without knowing what to do. But when my eyes adapted to the dim light and I could see well enough, I discovered that the question was not what, but who? I froze, stupefied, amazed and almost intimidated to see how this being was looking at me. He was sitting on the table, with his hands resting on it, looking intensely at me. He inspected me up and down until his eyes found mine. I felt frozen, this was absolutely astonishing. And all this in darkness!

H
e was dressed completely in black and his t-shirt marked every muscle that surrounded his body, entirely defined and strong; prepared to fight, if the circumstances required, at any instant. His face had perfect lines and his hair was as dark as his clothes.  He seemed to me as a banished angel from heaven; somber, yet attractive at the same time. All of a sudden he spoke as if he knew who I was:

“What are you looking at with
such eagerness?”

H
e showed a hint of a mischievously perfect smile. I hadn´t realized, but unconsciously I had sat down on the bed and was inspecting him with great curiosity. Of greatest impact was the fact that I had not felt afraid at any time, he seemed familiar to me.

Seeing that I didn´t respond to his question, he asked another.

“Would you like to come with me?”

“Yes”, I replied, without doubting.

That instant we could be found climbing through the window that led to the sidewalk of my street. He started to walk and I followed him.

             
With the light outside I could see more clearly. Tall, fair skin, perfect shoulders, I hadn´t seen his eyes yet. And just at that moment, in my mind, sparked up a debate and a series of questions.

             
What was I doing there, in the darkness, walking behind a complete stranger who had entered into my room without my permission, which hadn´t even remotely worried me, something which should have been alarming at three o´clock in the morning? Somehow I knew that he was not normal, his physique was convincing, he seemed to be human, but I knew he wasn´t. Nonetheless, I was fascinated, I was not afraid of him; on the contrary, I was attracted to him. I wanted to speak to him, I was curious to know who he was and all about him. My only desire in that moment was to follow him.

             
He stopped suddenly in the middle of a dimly lit park and sat on a bench. The streets were deserted, but I didn´t care, I sat beside him and I looked him straight in the eyes.

             
It could not be. I almost fainted when I saw his eyes. They were violet with shimmers of green; precious, profound and intriguing.

             
“Who are you? I asked.

             
“Do you not know who I am?”

             
“Are you an angel?”

             
“No”, he replied between laughs.

             
“So, what is your name and what were you doing in my room?”

             
“My name is Gabriel Shepard. I was only observing you.”

             
He was pensive, as though he could not believe that I didn´t know him.

             
“Where are you from?”

             
“I live in a place faraway”

             
“And, what are you doing here?”

             
“Well, you see, you caught my attention this morning and I wanted to meet you.” He lied.

              “So, you have spent the whole day following me. It was you?             

“Exactly
.”

“But, who are you?

“Too many questions for one night”, he laughed pleasantly.

“Come on!” I said with a displeased look
. “Let´s see, you are not a wizard, nor do you look like a vampire, nor a werewolf, so what are you then?

“You will find out later.”

“Why have I not seen you before if you have been following me all day?”

“Because I hide in the shadows, darkness is my ally.”

He said this in a sinister tone, so I didn´t ask again, but albeit it tormented me the idea of not knowing what he was. He invited me to walk and we arrived to the beach. It was a perfect summer’s night, warm and this month of august I had not had the time to enjoy the sea. Curiously, as though he had read my mind, he whipped me up into the air and started running towards the water until plunging into the water like two small children. We came out of the water laughing. It was extraordinarily comforting, but it was very hot. I took my shoes off in order to feel the fresh sand between my toes. I turned to ask if I was crazy and bumped into him. He was five centimeters from me, too close, I thought.

He started to ask me questions, as if he wanted me to remember something.

“Where are you from?”

“How do you know that I am not from here?”

“Well, if seems as though you are from here, although you appear to be from nowhere”.

“Because I am not from here, I guess. As long as I can remember I have continually changed city or country until arriving here. M
y adoptive mother, Anne, is the executive director of a multinational so we are never in one place for much time. Sometimes I long for some of the places we have lived in, but the place where I really felt at home was in New York. There, you can always find people to share your interests and your dreams with. Although Santa Barbara wasn´t bad either. I liked it for the diversity that you can find in the street, but Anne never let me go out alone at night, I hate that.”

I turned my head to one side, thinking of all the people I had left behind and the opportunities that I could have made use of and didn´t. I had diverted from the subject and when I returned to apologize, he was only two centimeters from my face. He surprised me, he caught me off guard. He was very concentrated, searching for something in my eyes when he said
.