Fear Of The Dark

Johnny was going to be so mad at us when he found out we'd gone out in the end. Not that it was our fault; it was, afterall the birthday of one of our friends and had found ourselves being taken to the pub with her and obviously we weren't going to turn around and say 'no because Johnny's supposed to be looking after us'.

Plus, since I'd made a point of taking notice of the direction I was taken to the pub every time we went now, I knew how to get us home. Though I think Sarah would have been able to get us there too since she'd lived here six more years than myself.

Around midnight we decided to leave. It was too late for us to be out without Johnny to walk us home but like I'd said, it was our friends birthday. The sky was clear allowing a perfect view of the dark blue sky scattered with stars and the moon. It was full tonight and cast a blue glow over everything it touched.

"Pretty isn't it?" I said to Sarah, glancing at her as we both looked up at it.

"Mmhmm."

"It'd be prettier if they were green, though don't you think?" I then asked with a sly grin at her whilst she continued to look upwards. Then she gave me the same answer as before and a proper grin broke out across my face. "Ha! I knew you liked him!"

Sarah instantly stopped looking up and to me with a slight panicky look etched into her features. I began to laugh and clapped to myself before stopping and looking at her once more, still grinning which made her scowl some. "I do not like him he just has very nice eyes."

I didn't say anything but gave her a disbelieving look as Elizabeth and Catherine left the pub behinds us and headed off into the dark on their walks home. I looked back at Sarah who was clearly waiting for me and I hurried over to her after bidding goodnight to the other two. Then, arm in arm, we started our walk home.

"So, what did you think of your future husband?" Sarah asked after what seemed like ages of just silence.

"He's boring and...not very pleasing to the eye. One of his eyes is...it doesn't look where it should, it sorta looks off to the left rather than how it should properly look," I replied with a frown and she grimaced, obviously coming up with a picture of him in her mind. "I'm trying desperately to think of a way to wriggle my way out of this."

"Why don't you run away?" Sarah answered jokingly and I laughed.

"Johnny said he would marry me but he said he'd have to marry you too because he loves us both, as friends of course. The only problem is, is that being married to two people at the same time is illegal so we're stuck where he is concerned."

"Bless Johnny," Sarah now mused. "Always looking out for us."

I laughed some more before we both quietened down and she led us into another street that was lit only by one gas lamp. It ran along the back of a row of what I knew to be some abandoned warehouses, where, no doubt, the homeless took shelter. In the daylight it was perfectly innocent but now with nothing but a gas lamp and the glow from the moon lighting it, all the bad thoughts Johnny had unwittingly produced from teasing and my experiences of walking home unescorted came flooding in.

I glanced at Sarah as she tensed up, the pair of us coming to a complete stand still as we stared down this long dark alley with the curve meaning we couldn't see right to the end. "Is there not another way we could go?" I whispered.

"Not unless you want to be walking most of the night," Sarah retorted, her voice just as shaky.

"Well, lets just walk fast," I gulped out in a squeak. "The faster we walk the faster it's gonna pass." We both knew I was unsure of myself but we let our thoughts go unheard as we nervously took a step into this alley. So much for walking fast.

I concentrated on the area lit by the gas lamp, trying desperately to vanquish the paranoia that was trying to over take me. There is no third set of steps, there is no third set of steps- suddenly Sarah stopped, froze even forcing to do so too. And so did the third set of footsteps. But then came a tapping sound like something metal was tapping against the bricks in the wall either side of us.

I knew this wasn't my paranoia anymore. Someone was here. Or rather he was there. I tightened my grip on Sarah, willing my feet to move but that only stopped when I looked up and saw a cloaked figure step into the circle of light up ahead of us. The collar was up and he was wearing a hat to cast so much darkness over his face it was like looking into a well.

With that I could feel my feet making involuntary, yet very much welcome, steps backwards quickening with each one they took, until that was I turned and ran into someone much bigger than myself. I reached out to grab Sarah's hand as we turned to run the other way but he was still there, still waiting for us and I could now hear his sadistic laughing.

All I could think, as the two burly men pushed us towards 'The Ripper', was that we were trapped and this time nobody was going to come to our aid. This was it, the end of our short and pointless lives. "You two pretty things have done a very good job at evading me so far," He spoke out now, his voice deep and guttural. "At least this time I don't have your personal bodyguards here to stop me."

I squeaked as a tear streaked down my face; we were now at the edge of this pool of light and I could hear 'The Ripper's raspy breaths. I watched fearfully, squeezing Sarah's hand so hard it should probably have fallen off, as he produced from the depths of his long black cloak a gleaming blade.

"Now, which one of you-" he began but before he could finish four bigger-than-average black dogs leapt over the wall, snarling from the depths of their throats and crouching low, as they surrounded Sarah and I. We screamed out of fear, grasping one another like it might help protect us.

The three men fell silent and all the noise that was made were our whimpers and the growling of this dogs. Two of them were staring directly at the cloaked man, whilst the other two faced the accomplices. I barely had time to comprehend the fact that our death had been momentarily prolonged and that one of the dogs facing 'The Ripper' had strikingly green eyes, when he lunged forward with the knife and the two dogs lunged back at him, teeth glaring and barking angrily.

I felt a hand tugging on my wrist and I screamed from fear until I saw it was Johnny and he was trying to drag me. "Johnny!" We both screamed before flying at him. He pushed us away and grabbed us both by the hand as the dogs and the men fought each other.

"Stop them!" 'The Ripper' yelled as he pointed at us, whilst one of the dogs was distracted and the guy began his advance.

"Come on! Let Brian and the guys deal with them!" Johnny shouted at us.

Brian and the guys? My thought was interrupted by Johnny yanking on my wrist and trying to get me to run back out of the alley with him and Sarah. Unless he knew a way back to our street we now faced an all night walk. As we ran I could hear the frenzied barking and yells before it all went quiet and Johnny told us to stop.

His eyes were darting over things in the shadows as I sunk down to the ground, tears streaming down my face. I buried my face in my hands as I began to cry properly now, letting out the first sob into the night sky. I could hear someone else crying too which I figured to be Sarah, and Johnny's quiet words to her.

I heaved another sob as something furry brushed up my bare forearms. I looked up and even though I couldn't see very much because of my tears, I thought I saw a dog. Quickly I wiped my eyes of the tears, heaving another sob and found Brian crouched down in front of me. And suddenly I couldn't think of very much beyond us two.

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out, as his deep eyes watched me, filled with concern. I could feel tears running down my face as I tried to form a sentence to say something, anything even if it didn't make sense but my mind was too much of a scramble after coming face to face with The Ripper. Brian reached a hand up to wipe my tears from my face as I tried to calm myself down.

I gulped and looked at him properly before gasping. "What happened to your face?" I asked as I grabbed the edge of one of my skirts and dabbed the blood away from the cut.

He pushed my hand down and away from his face. "That's not important right now, I wanna know you're okay first?"

"How is Sarah?" I asked instead, panic rising in my voice when I realised I hadn't been paying all that much attention when we began to run except for when I noted her sobbing. "Where is she?"

"Sarah's fine, Zack's looking after her, but that's not important to me right now," he answered softly yet with an air of authority to his deep American voice. "I want to know if you're okay, miss?"

I took a deep breath, looking round at the street we were on and finding I had no idea where we were. I saw Sarah crying into Zack's chest, I saw the other two men talking with Johnny and when I looked back I saw Brian watching me, waiting for his answer. "As good as I'm gonna be after-" I stalled and frowned slightly. "Johnny said that you would look after him and those two men but you weren't-"

"Yes we were," he said quietly, looking away and down at the pavement.

So that's why he has a cut face? He's been fighting. Just not in human form?"You were-"

"Look, I think we should get you two home first," he interrupted once more as he placed his hands on my waist and stood up, bringing me up to my to feet in one swift motion. "You and Sarah have had enough of a scare for one night. Then once you're safe I think it's time we owed you an explanation."

I nodded as his hands dropped from my waist and I felt a pang of disappointment run right through me. Sarah and Zack argued like nobodies business yet there he was, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world; yet Brian and I get along perfectly fine and all I get is my tears wiped away?

Johnny wandered over to me and hugged me instead. "I'm not blaming you for being out," he whispered as he kissed the top of my head. "And neither are the guys. They're not blaming me for this either so you won't have to yell at them for beating me up, okay?"

I laughed as did Sarah who was now standing with us, and I wiped away one last tear, whilst he smiled at us. With that we headed home before anything else could happen. I kept close to Johnny and Sarah as we walked, but found myself having to glance behind me to see if Brian was still there, even though I knew he was. He just gave off this aura that let me know when he was around.

I could hear snippets of the conversation and my breath hitched in my throat when, barely moments after Matt I think it was, said that the ripper guy was still loose but the other two were taken care of, a blood curdling scream rang through the streets of London. We froze and the guys seemed to share a look as their eyes darted all around us.

Barely a moment later they began walking again and Brian's hand was on the small of my back guiding me along. I didn't argue and went along with it, wanting to be home more than anything now. What felt like ages but was probably only a few minutes later we were being led up to the front door of Johnny's house since it was closest.

Once we were all safely inside the house Johnny made Sarah and I sit whilst he went and found some whiskey for us all. I took mine, not being all that bothered about whiskey but I'd drink it down anyway because it was strong enough. Everything was silent for a good few minutes as we drunk back our whiskey.

"Anyway, this explanation-" Brian began, his eyes meeting mine briefly before looking at Sarah too.

"I don't think we need one," Sarah interrupted before offering a polite smile at the end. "You're injuries are pretty self-explanatory along with Johnny's 'let Brian and the guys deal with them' comment."

The five guys all fell silent and I smiled weakly at Brian who looked back down at the floor as they shifted nervously or scratched the backs of their necks. "Aren't, aren't you scared of us then?" Zack now said, his eyes lingering more towards Sarah's.

I gave a laugh that was a little on the unconvincing side but they smiled anyway. "I think we have read enough books between us not to be scared of a pack of werewolves."

"Besides there are worse things to worry about right now," Sarah then added and nobody needed to add to that because we all knew what she was talking about. I stared at the empty glass in my hands wishing to forget what had happened as silence set into the room. We'd been so close to death but yet again, just at the last minute we'd been saved.

I sighed and set my glass down on the small cabinet beside the chair I had sat in. "I wish to go home now," I informed the room. The words had barely left my mouth when all five men had stood, obviously to escort Sarah and I back to our street.

I pulled myself to my feet as did Sarah before walking towards the door in the wake of Jimmy's footsteps. I heard the others all pile into the hallway too as I unhooked my shawl from the coat stand in the corner. I wrapped it around my shoulders and tied it up, Sarah following suit. When we were all ready, we made our way back into the street.

The wind whipped round us and I pulled my shawl closer before noticing Brian holding his arm out for me to take with a smile. I smiled back thankfully and took it as we began to walk the two streets back to our homes. Once there I said my farewells before heading straight up to my front door, ducking inside and heading straight up to my room where I proceeded to collapse on my bed, a restless sleep hitting me the moment my head touched the pillow.