40enFri, 11 Jan 2013 10:56:04 GMTFri, 11 Jan 2013 10:56:04 GMT
But despite this threat, the grip on his neck began to slacken as if the creature or whatever it was in the darkness began to contemplate with itself.
“But, there is no use in you dying...yet,” the figure said, letting go of Ben’s throat.
The claws retracted from Ben’s neck, leaving behind tiny pinholes where a small droplet of blood escaped from each one.
Ben knew he was lucky to be alive, he could practically feel the bruise on his neck starting to form and throb with pain. But in this place, Ben was getting used to the feeling.
“I have decided to let you live, puny weakling. Not out of kindness but of lack of resources. Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind,” hissed the creature in a shadowed whisper.
Ben gulped and stared at the enveloping darkness ahead of him. He could still see nothing, despite the fact his eyes had grown accustomed to the vast blackness.
“W...w...who are you?” Ben rasped out, using as much energy left of his available to utter these simple words.
For a moment silence was all Ben heard. Then, the sour note of an intake of breath reached Ben’s ears.
“I? I am not a “who”. More of a “what”. But to answer you simply, I am the darkness you fear to dread. I am the blackness of your inner soul. Around here I am known as “The Supervisor”. But my name, to you would send shivers up your spine. My true name is...Dartho.”


(to be continued...)]]>Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:23:55 GMT
Suddenly, there was a voice in the darkness. It was one he was unfamiliar with, a low growl of a voice, almost hauntingly beast-like.
“Stand up,” ordered the voice in a commanding manner.
With effort, Ben winced as he tried to stand up but found the strain on his body too great. He was still sore and tired but managed to sit himself up as he found his head was near a black wall. Glancing around with tired and tear strained eyes Ben could still see nothing but blackness. It gave him the Chill he felt earlier when he had gazed at the hole in the black wall.
A sudden throaty laugh could be heard around Ben. He didn’t like his situation and his surroundings.
“Do not try to resist me. You are too weak and pathetic,” uttered the voice after the laughter died down.
Ben had no intention of resisting. He was too tired to fight, mentally or physically. But the Sting of the remark ignited a fire in Ben’s eyes that seemed to announce that no matter how hard he would be beaten down Ben would not take it for very much longer.
A silent hiss escaped his mouth as he was about to speak but the sudden pain came back and this time Ben felt a stony cold hand around his throat. The hand gripped his neck fiercely, the claw-like nails pricking barely into Ben’s skin like the tips of very sharp needles.
“Do not speak unless I tell you, urchin!” threatened the voice as Ben let out a whimper from the nails digging into his neck.

(to be continued...)]]>Sat, 05 Jan 2013 11:05:01 GMT
“What is it?” asked a soft yet menacing voice from the blackened room. “Why do you dare to spoil my slumber?”
The Beagle licked his dry lips with almost a sense of dread. He nervously twisted the top of his cane with his sweaty hands.
“I bring an orphan...” started The Beagle with a slightly tense tone in his voice until the voice from the void of darkness halted him.
“Orphans...” came a guttural growl from the voice in the dark room. It seemed almost bored. “Very well, leave it here and leave.”
The Beagle nodded and turned to the Whipping Boy, standing aside to allow the Whipping Boy to place the unconscious form of Ben upon the ground within the dark room.
With a fearful look in his eyes, the Whipping Boy exited the darkness, The Beagle shutting the door with alarming speed and the two hastened a retreat back to their stations within The Workhouse.

Ben finally regained consciousness but for a slight moment he almost thought he hadn’t. Wherever he was he was in eternal darkness. Blinking his eyes with effort, Ben opened them again and realized he was indeed awake. But what happened next made him wish he wasn’t. There was sudden excruciating pain in every part of his body. Not sure what or who was causing him to feel this, Ben felt really scared for one of the few moments in his young life. Tears swept away his dirt-stained cheeks as he cried almost freely. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the pain had stopped.

(to be continued...)]]>Sun, 23 Dec 2012 22:37:00 GMT
Pointing with his cane upwards, The Beagle awaited as the Whipping Boy made his way up the staircase with the unconscious form of Ben upon his right shoulder. The Beagle glanced back and issued a short bark of command as a few girls stopped their scrubbing to have a quick glance at the new orphan’s fate. Glancing hurriedly back down, the girls resumed their work.
With a grunt of satisfaction, The Beagle turned and followed suit up the metal stairwell to the top of the metal gangway that was half-eclipsed in shadow. The Whipping Boy was awaiting him patiently. The Whipping Boy glanced nervously at the small shack that was to the right of him that was bathed in shadow. The storage shack to the left that was on the other side of the metal walkway seemed more inviting but the Whipping Boy knew he could not go that way or he would feel The Beagle’s wrath.
Moving aside at the top of the steel staircase, The Whipping Boy moved towards the shadowed shack and deftly opened the black painted door with a shaking hand, his other hand supporting the small squirt of an orphan upon his shoulder.
As the door opened there seemed to be a breath of mouldy air as if something monstrous had let out a giant sigh. The room was pitch black and the Whipping Boy gulped with fear, gently moving aside as The Beagle finally appeared behind him and nudged him to the side with his cane.

(to be continued...)]]>Mon, 17 Dec 2012 07:06:26 GMT
Without the energy to recoil from this, Ben just laid motionless as he heard the familiar lashing sound of the whipping boy’s whip close to him. Then the voice became clear. It was The Beagle’s voice. It seemed to be addressing the Whipping Boy.
“Enough of that now. The Supervisor wants to see him. And the rest of you...GET BACK TO WORK!!” enraged the voice of The Beagle, whom just a few minutes before had prodded the small boy that was on the floor with his cane in the chest.
The Whipping Boy nodded, somewhat half-heartedly and hefted up the small form of the semi-conscious Ben. The Whipping Boy placed Ben over his shoulder as the rest of the other boys went back to work.
It was a short walk but The Beagle was huffing and puffing from exhaustion. He hated to be called when an orphan fainted on their first day. But that was a work hazard. It did not happen often due to the strict routine that The Beagle had issued the Whipping Boy with. A lot of whipping was involved.
But if, like on this occasion, it did happen, then The Supervisor would scare the orphans to their senses.
After his minute rest, The Beagle continued down the black brick-layered hallway back to the main room with the girl orphans scrubbing the floors. Ignoring the young wenches that he towered over, The Beagle gingerly side-stepped past them. The Whipping Boy followed The Beagle’s lead until they reached the metal stairway.

(to be continued...)]]>Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:26:50 GMT
(Book 2, part 5)

The whipping boy was snapping his long whip in a random direction. Ben knew if he did not look busy, eventually the whipping boy would pay extra attention to him and start whipping his whip in Ben’s direction.
Turning back to the wall Ben started to get to work, hefting another brick up to an empty space. Glancing into the hole, Ben felt sure there was a presence there, a form of darkness he was not familiar with. Again, the shiver ran up Ben’s spine as he carefully inserted the brick with a hurried motion to take his eyes off the enveloping darkness beyond the black wall.
After what seemed like hours of hard labor, Ben felt his body was numb from pain.
Despite his efforts, Ben was unable to keep up the pace much longer. He was just not able to keep up due to his small stature. Before he knew it the world was spinning around him, seeing blackness all around him as he fainted on his feet. He slumped but did not fall over until another boy had bumped into him. He had felt that but after collapsing to the dirty ground Ben was unable to comprehend anything.

Dazed with dizziness, Ben forced himself to open his eyes and saw a blurry vision above him. As he opened his eyes he heard a voice. It was a harsh voice. A sudden pain in his chest alerted Ben’s senses. He had been roughly prodded in the chest.

(to be continued...)]]>Sun, 16 Dec 2012 02:57:05 GMT]]>Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:35:30 GMT
With a flick of a switch, Tabitha saw a glass tube encircle the orb she was deposited within and before she could cry out she suddenly found herself and the orb thrust from her home. The next thing she knew was blackness. At first she was afraid but the darkness soon faded and Tabitha found herself in a strange world full of smoke and grime. Little did she know she had been followed by a dark shadow, which had sensed her presence as she had crossed the Void to this new unfamiliar world. She found out she knew nothing of her past except she was apparently an orphan girl and was found by a man known as The Illustrator, her first friend in this strange place known as London.


Chapter 11: The Dark Shadow...

Ben felt the black brick wall that had just spoken to him. Did it really speak? Or was he just going crazy already in this terrible place? As his fingers touched the hard surface Ben felt a shiver go up his spine. There was still a low vibration from the wall. Whatever it was, Ben knew he didn’t like it. Taking his hand away from the wall, Ben gave a quick backward glance at the whipping boy that was in charge of them. The teenage youth was still in his chair but his attention was drawn away from Ben, as the short orphan boy was of no interest to him.

(to be continued...)]]>Tue, 01 May 2012 21:09:57 GMT
She would have broken into tears if not for her hard resolve. But the nagging guilt of what she brought to plague this world was enough to make her shudder with shivers to the centre of her bones. Despite the warmth of the bed, Tabitha felt cold, the reality hitting her like a flash of lightning. No, not lightning...Lighnia.
The very word seemed to flash her back once again to that once happy place in her very early childhood.


The fields of flowers shone brightly in the sun. Tabitha felt safe here. That was until the shadows of blackness cascaded over her field of sunlight. The planet Lighnia engulfed by an invisible force of darkness that swept over the entire planet with it’s moonlit radiance. Running, Tabitha hurried to the safety of her glass domed house. But despite the reflective barrier of light that held the shadows at bay, it seemed all but pointless as globs of shadow hit the surface of Lighnia, decaying the florescent flowers until they shrivelled up and died. Tabitha was safe, for now. She ran to her father, hugging him tightly, his broad arms reaching down to pick her up. Hurriedly unchaining his moon pendant that hung around his neck, her father strapped it around her neck before depositing her within a glowing orb of light that shone as brightly as possible.

(to be continued...)]]>Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:21:58 GMTSun, 29 Apr 2012 10:15:35 GMT
A sudden calmness came over her body. Tabitha seemed to drift off, as if in a sleep-like state. But her mind was as awake as ever, a rush of images appearing in her mind’s eyes. First was the image of her earliest memory, the golden glow of the sun on her infant face as her father held her in his arms. Then suddenly as the sunrise faded, darkness seemed to cloud over the window, a sea of blackness oozing as the infant Tabitha cried whilst her father held her away as the windows shattered.
The scene faded, washed away like a bad dream. As Tabitha grew conscious of herself, the crude iron moon pendant seemed to radiate warmth. Tabitha’s eyes brightly shone a silver Haze of light sweeping radiance. Suddenly, the light faded as the man took his fingers off her forehead.
Tabitha’s eyes seemed to adjust, a feeling of dread sweeping across every fibre of her being.
“I...do not belong here,” she half-whispered in a soft but audible tone.
As she said this, Tabitha grasped her now cool moon pendant that was around her neck. She felt more at ease, but the urge to run seemed to grip her more then she dared to admit to a stranger, let alone herself.
Tabitha sensed herself almost at peace. Her past was now clear. It was her future that was uncertain. But despite it all, with the grips of her true self now aglow with brightness within her mind’s eyes, Tabitha felt sorrow for her fallen friends of this planet.

(to be continued...)]]>Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:04:46 GMT]]>Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:01:11 GMT]]>Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:45:52 GMT

Tabitha said nothing but her mind was racing by what the man had just told her. She was not of this world? That did not make any sense. But Tabitha had felt something was amiss, like how she could not remember her past before she was found by The Illustrator. She had no knowledge of her parents or of her life before she was an orphan of the streets. Tabitha felt her hand was hurting and glanced down to see she was gripping her moon pendant. Glancing up at the well-dressed gentlemen, Tabitha noticed he too was staring at the lead ornament around her neck. Releasing her grip on the ornate trinket, Tabitha seemed to snap to her senses at last.
“What do you mean?” she asked rather timidly yet with a slight undertone of brashness that sustained to disbelief.
“I mean exactly what I said,” responded the well-dressed gentleman, his eyes moving from Tabitha’s necklace to her eyes. “You are not of this world, Tabitha. Ergo, you do not belong here. I’m sorry to have to tell you like this but time is not on our side. You were born on another dimensional planet called Lighnia. I have not much time to explain all but this should help...” muttered the man as he deftly took off one of his white gloves and placed his fingers on Tabitha’s forehead.
“What are you...?” started Tabitha but stopped as the man placed his fingers to her head.


(to be continued...)]]>Sat, 01 Jan 2011 10:56:25 GMT
And yes, I plan to continue this in all good time. ]]>Wed, 01 Dec 2010 04:08:05 GMT Where the hell have I been?]]>Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:32:19 GMT
Ben did not say anything for he was entitled not to. He was not kidnapped to make friends, of that he was certain. No, he was like many of the other orphans, kidnapped from the streets to do hard labour. But having friends did not help Ben any. He had gotten too close to Tabitha and he lost her. There was no room in his mind for doubt. Having friends just tends to allow you to lose them.
The brown-eyed boy had wandered off, probably sensing Ben did not want to chat. And he had sensed correctly. Ben thought no more over it and decided to continue on with the work, flinching slightly as the sound of the Whipping Boy’s whip snap as another boy had collapsed by accident.
Ignoring the slur of tyrannical words and the other torturous sounds around him, Ben kept to the task at hand. Hefting one of the newly formed black bricks, Ben scrambled to the half-completed wall and as he approached the wall Ben felt an eerie shiver of dread run down his spine. As Ben reached the wall and slipped the black brick into an empty slot he could have sworn he heard a sound coming from the wall. Glancing around to make sure the Whipping Boy was back at his post, Ben lightly pressed his ear beside the wall. A deep yet low energy seemed to be emitting from the wall. Then, Ben heard a whisper. It took Ben a slight moment after hearing it to fully realise what the whisper said. It had uttered two simple words, “Help Us”.


(to be continued...)]]>Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:13:25 GMT
Ben’s head felt like it was swimming but after shaking his head slightly he got over this feeling and went to where the older boy pointed with his whip. Ben soon found himself being watched by the other younger boys for a few seconds before the Whipping Boy snapped his whip which made them get back to work.
“Okay, move it you losers! We gots to finish this building by tomorrow!” snapped out the Whipping Boy with a snide sneer on his face.
After surveying the area to make sure none of the younger boys had stopped working, the Whipping Boy went and sat by a corner on a wooden stool to keep an eye on the brick-laying brats.
Ben was stationed near the rear of the area, a place where apparently all male newcomers of The Warehouse were brought to work on brick-laying duties.

Ben had just started getting into the rhythm of the labour when suddenly one of the oldest boys shoved Ben aside and knocked Ben down. Ben glanced at his attacker and saw the boy just ignore Ben and picked up the brick Ben had dropped.
Without even glancing at Ben, the sturdy yet tall youth turned and started walking away towards the half constructed wall they were building.
“That’s Jacob,” muttered a voice beside Ben.
Ben took his eyes off his assailant and looked towards the bearer of the voice.
He was taller then Ben and had a wry half-smile but his steadfast brown eyes held a touch of sadness that Ben was all too familiar with.


(to be continued...)]]>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:58:47 GMT
(Book 2, part 8 )

They did not seem to acknowledge Ben until they heard the crack of the whip within the whipping boy’s hands.
“Enough gawking! Get to moving!” snapped out the whipping boy as he led Ben past the girls who started once more scrubbing in case they got in trouble again.
Before Ben knew it he was led down a bricked hallway, the dark grime covering the old bricks with a slimy residue. It was not long until Ben heard the sounds of grinding gears getting louder as the older boy led Ben along the short decrepit hallway by shoving him harshly and muttering curses under his breath.
Ben stopped as he entered the new-looking room that had a few scrawny younger boys in tattered dirty rags hauling what appeared to be bricks as best as they could carry.
The area itself seemed somewhat cramped and the half-finished room was already towering with a wall of bricks being laid by the boys after being crudely smeared with cement.
Ben took in the atmosphere in one instant, the older boy immediately hitting Ben on the back of the head. Ben’s head was throbbing slightly but it was just a knock from the handle of the Whipping Boy’s whip. Having collapsed to his knees from the blow, Ben vaguely heard the Whipping Boy shout out commands but managed to get to his feet and did as the Whipping Boy demanded.


(to be continued...)]]>Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:36:50 GMTMontana got destroyed), just severely weaken is good too. may be one about Piranas b4 they got to clintz city, or may be the course of some of the Cr's journeys( how many people do you think wonder what happened to amiral py and smokey when they're on board together- my guess is zero lol)]]>