Jenna Marbury
Goldenwalk
The street had been abandoned, the city evacuated and vacant. Some residents hadn’t left, however, as they hid in their houses, waiting for the terror to end. Just before something had blasted the radio towers and cut through power lines, Jenna Marbury had been watching the news with her husband Marco, and their son Kyle.
Reports of super-powered fights, rumors that the HeroSquad had been killed by the powerful invaders, and warnings to leave the city. Marco had suggested they get out quickly, but Jenna had voted against it. With what was happening, there would be too much traffic. They’d get stuck in the city. Not to mention they were exposed out there.
She’d won the argument, of course, as they were still in their apartment, the blinds pulled down over the windows, the curtains drawn, the lights off.
The last thing the news chopper had shown was a collection of individuals, before a white beam appeared for a split second on the camera, and the chopper stopped streaming. The news channel cut back to the main reporter, whose mouth was agape in shock, before he began reading an emergency alert.
That had been almost thirty minutes ago. The power had cut out twenty minutes ago. Now, Jenna sat on the couch, her seven-year-old son Kyle curled up in her arms, too young, innocent, and oblivious to understand the gravity of the situation. Even Jenna and Marcus knew too little to comprehend just how much danger they were in.
Jenna just hoped that they could wait this out. They’d go to sleep that night, wake in the morning, and everything would be over. The mother hummed a soft lullaby to her child, holding him close as he dozed off in her arms. Marcus had gone into the bedroom to collect a flashlight, claiming he’d only be a moment. Knowing him, however, he’d be grabbing a stash of chips he had in the room. He didn’t know she knew, but she knew. Thinking about that brought a comforting smile to her face, before she looked up at the ceiling. “Lord, get us through these crazy days.” She muttered, before tilting her head back down and kissing the top of her sons head, his long sandy hair tickling her nose.
Suddenly, she heard a thump from her and Marcus’ room, followed by a thud, then silence, almost as though somebody had fallen. She waited for several moments, expecting to hear her husband call out a reassurance, but there was nothing. Panic began to build in her as she sat there, scenarios running through her mind. Maybe he’d tripped and hit his head on the dresser? Maybe he was just pulling a prank… no, he wouldn’t do that. Not at a time like this.
Slowly, Jenna moved her son out of her lap, gently lying him down on the bed. He laid back, breathing softly as his small chest rose and fell, his arms above his head as he laid there, relaxed. Unaware of the danger he was in.
Jenna too, had no idea of the danger she was in, either.
“Marcus?” Jenna called softly through the dark house as she slowly padded her way to their room, the darkness just light enough that she could make out and identify locations in the apartment. She got no reply, arousing her fears as she moved softly to the door, which was open ajar. “...Mark?” She asked again, slowly pushing the door open to reveal…
A completely black room. Jenna felt her throat tighten painfully as a coldness seeped from the room, almost as though it were a freezer. It was impossibly black, as well. Much darker than anything she’d ever seen before. Her immediate thought was to run. To grab her son and get as far away from that apartment as possible, but her worry over her husband overpowered her fears as she stepped into the room.
It was like stepping into a freezer. The room inside was easily nearly twenty degrees colder than the rest of the house. It was clearly unnatural, not to mention it had been a warm summer day just that afternoon when Jenna had gone to the park with Kyle before Marcus had gotten off work. That seemed like a million years ago, now.
“M-Mark…” Jenna shivered, hugging her body tightly as she tried to look around the room, but could see nothing. Not a thing. She didn’t want to leave, but… she didn’t feel safe here. She needed to get herself and more importantly, Kyle, away from that house.
Whatever was going on outside had reached them.
Jenna quickly turned, about to flee, but in the doorway, she saw a figure standing there. The figure appeared to be a child, and couldn’t be much older than Kyle. It was difficult to tell in the pitch black. “W-what… h-hello?” Jenna asked, her teeth beginning to chatter as the figure didn’t respond for a good few seconds, until it cocked its head to the side. “Looking for your husband, Jenna?” It asked.
The woman’s eyes widened as she took a step back. This child, or whatever it was, stood between her and Kyle. He wasn’t safe, and she understood that. She knew she wasn’t safe either. Whatever this figure was… It had done something to her husband.
“Don’t worry. You’ll see him soon.”
The figure raised something- its arm. In its hand sat-
All thoughts going through the mind of the mother ceased as a blast of red tore her apart, her body going flying back into the room, mangled and bloodied, tearing in half from the sheer power of the attack.
Kyle jerked awake with a start, slowly sitting up, rubbing his eyes. “Mommy?” He croaked, looking about the dark living room, before watching as the same figure that had killed his mother and father began to approach him. “Mommy isn’t here anymore.” Chara assured, her eyes beginning to glow a deep, unnatural shade of red. “Daddy isn’t either.” Her knife began to glow as red as her eyes as she continued to slowly step toward the young child.
“Soon… very soon… well… you won’t be too.”