Chapter 16 Horrors Of The Shadows

Landing with a harsh thud on the ground, Marcus quickly jumped up and brushed himself off, ready to catch Julianna when she fell through the end of the portal. Sure enough, within a few seconds she was falling through the air. Without a second thought, he positioned himself right below her, and caught her just as she was about to hit the ground.

Taking a moment to allow her to regain her focus, Marcus took in their surroundings. The place that they had just entered, was nothing like the place they had just come from. There were several obvious differences as well as a few barely noticeable ones.

For one thing, there were no buildings fully in tact. Every building looked as old and tatty as the poorer parts of Moonsong valley. Another difference was that it felt like they had been sucked into an eternal midnight. There was barely any light at all, not from buildings, not from stars, not even a moon in the sky. The only light was the tiny glimmer from what looked like the sun being shadowed by the moon. An eclipse.

"Marcus.." Julianna half whispered through shivers. The air was colder than the roughest winter.

"Yeah?" He answered, turning his full attention to her.

"Where are we?" She asked, biting her lip to try to keep from shivering.

"I don't know....... but I guess we're about to find out. Don't worry baby, as long as we stick together we'll be ok." He replied, trying to sound certain despite him not being certain himself at all.

Taking her ice cold hand into his own, he began leading the way through the darkness. It was a lucky advantage that werewolves had supernatural senses and could see for miles, even in the darkest of places.

As they made their way further into the shadow realm, they heard loads of eerie sounds, moaning creaky old doors, and screams of torment and terror. Although the sounds were frightening, what was even worse was the sights. The things they were seeing as they passed through, were absolutely terrifying. In every direction there were shadows and creatures of the night that looked beyond evil. Each one branded with a mark that was burned into their skin. Each one full of battle scars and open, oozing wounds. Each one watching the pair intensely as they passed by.

Marcus stopped suddenly, only now realising that he had no idea where to even begin to search for Joshua and his sister. They should have thought a little harder about the details of their plan rather than just diving straight through the portal. It was the biggest mistake anyone could make. It was the downfall of most heroes. Not that he considered himself one. If anything he was the bad guy. The monster. His newly found identity proved that to him.

"What's wrong?" Julianna asked almost crashing into him when he stopped.

"How are we supposed to find them when we have no idea where to look?" He asked, leaving her just as equally stuck for answers as he was.

"I don't know but we have to hurry. We don't have much time." She replied, urging him to keep moving. If they had any hopes at saving their siblings, they had to move swiftly and without questioning their choices.

Taking in her words and realising that she was right, he continued walking, observing each and every building and turning they passed. As they walked he kept wondering to himself if there was even a way to get to wherever it was they were supposed to go. What were they even supposed to look for.

Eventually after what felt like an eternity of walking they came across a castle like building. It's dark grey walls looked as though they were bleeding as dark liquid trickled down every corner. In front there was a bridge that crossed a river. As they took their first steps on the bridge, they both noticed the same thing. The river was not one in which water flowed. Instead, the liquid that ran in it was thick, and red. It was a river of blood. Not just blood either. There were fish laying afloat on their sides bobbing up and down as the river flowed. Marcus felt sick to his stomach. This place was just full of horrors that would scar them for the rest of their lives. Haunting them in their dreams. Maybe even their waking hours.

"I feel sick." Julianna stated, turning her head away from the river and focusing on what was ahead of them.

Once they got to the other side, they noticed that the door, which was a huge chunk of wood, was unguarded. Strange. Marcus thought.

"Wait!" He called out to Julianna just as she stepped towards the door.

"What now?" She asked stopping just inches away from the entrance.

"Something feels off. I mean shouldn't a place like this be... well..... heavily guarded?" He questioned. Feeling very reluctant to go forward.

"So what if it isn't Marcus, it's better for us that way." She half snapped, then with that being said she turned around and placed her hand on the lock of the door. The exact second she did, a creature emerged from the darkness and grabbed her tightly around the midsection of her body causing her to screech as a cracking sound came from her body.

"Marcus!" She cried, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Without hesitation, but with built up rage, Marcus jumped forward as his face became animal like and landed on the creature's back. As he landed he sunk his canines straight into the creature's shoulder. Using one hand to grip on and the other to claw at the thing that held Julianna tight. He began ripping into the skin of whatever was attacking her, and blood splattered across his face. Not knowing what to do, he wrapped his arms tightly around the creature's neck and pulled tight. The head lock got tighter and tighter until its neck made a sickening cracking sound. Marcus quickly dropped off of its back, and onto his feet as the thing let go of his Julie and dropped to the ground.

"Julie.... are you hurt?" He asked rushing to her side, and holding her from behind since she looked like she was about to drop.

"It.... hurts." She whispered, her eyes watering.

"Tell me Julie... where does it hurt?" He asked scanning her for injury.

"Rib." Was the only word she managed as her pain worsened.

"It's okay. You're gonna be okay. I'm gonna look after you." He promised, scooping her up into his arms, bridal style. Her head flopped against his shoulder as he began searching the perimeter of the castle for another way in. Holding onto her tightly he felt the crack in her rib even through the thick layer of clothing and tender skin, he knew he had to be quick, but he also had to he careful. With Julianna injured, it was up to him to save Joshua and Layla and get them all back safely. He only hoped that he could do it alone, because if he couldn't, very bad things would follow.