Fear Of The Dark

[[SARAH]]

I woke up after only a few hours sleep, the clock on the wall stating the time to be 10:38am. Getting up quickly, I dressed and ran down the stairs. Not bothering to get breakfast or greet my family, I moved out the door towards Kirsty's house.

Knocking on the door, I was relieved when she answered, pulling her out and hugging her. The incident this morning had shaken me. Losing her then finding out about the murder made it all so real.

"Kirsty, where did you go last night? You terrified me," I whispered into her ear. She pulled me out of the house and began to walk down the street, me hurrying after her.

"I dropped my money, so I stopped to get it. But you had both left me there. God, it was scary. I think, I think I heard poor Annie being killed. But I never got to see, because someone dragged me away and when I opened my eyes, I was at my house," she whispered, looking at me, her eyes full of worry.

I hugged her tightly, feeling her hug me back. "God, don't leave us again ok? No matter what. It's too dangerous round these streets at night now," I whispered softly, she nodded at me.

"Come on, we're meeting Johnny at the Thames," I said, pulling her along by her sleeve. She sighed and hurried along next to me, I noted her looking at all the street signs, almost as if she was memorising where they all were. I frowned at her.

"Don't worry, you're not gonna get lost again. I promise," I said, smiling encouragingly at her. She looked at me, before sighing softly and nodding. The Thames water soon came into sight and I walked up to the wall, looking over.

Kirsty came and leant against the wall next to me, staring at the grass next to us. I gave out a small breath before looking up at the clear, blue sky. It was nice out, and would make for a perfect day again.

Looking further down the bank, I saw Johnny, and grinned, jumping down from the wall. I began to walk towards him, before noticing the three men stood with him.

I raised an eyebrow at this.

"Kirsty, come on, Johnny's over there," I said, smiling at her. She looked up at Johnny before starting, just like me. Confusion written in her face as she noted the three men. "Who are they?" She whispered into my ear as she pulled me back. I looked at her and shrugged.

I had no idea who they were. Never seen them in my life. "I've not seen them around here. How does Johnny know them?" I whispered back. I saw them all look at us, and figured we would have looked a little suspicious.

"Well, he's not with us all the time remember? He does have his own agenda to follow too," Kirsty said quietly, glancing at them from the corner of her eye. I nodded and took a deep breath. "Well if Johnny's with them, they're probably harmless," Kirsty nodded in agreement.

I began to walk towards them, albeit a little nervous, but with Kirsty next to me, I felt better at the prospect of meeting these new men. Upon closer inspection, I noted that all three were very handsome, and from their clothing, rich.

Which surprised me. What were rich, young (and single judging from the lack of wedding band) men doing in this side of town? This could really be classified as the poorer area of town. The more upper class area being closer to Buckingham Palace, with the big mansions and expensive houses.

They looked like they belonged there, sipping champagne with the rich, wealthy people of England. Not here, drinking ale and beer with the poor.

As we got closer, I could hear the four of them arguing quietly. The three looked to be angry with him, and as we came within hearing distance, I heard snippets of their conversation. Something about 'watching her', 'danger' and 'don't make the mistake'. I frowned at this.

Arriving, I smiled at Johnny. "Hello Johnny, did you sleep well after last night?" I said, looking at Kirsty. She looked down sheepishly. Johnny smiled at me, although it looked a little strained.

"Hey Sarah, you feeling okay Kirsty?" He asked sympathetically. She rolled her eyes and gave a sigh of frustration. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine. I didn't get murdered, I learnt my lesson, I won't stop for anything at night," she said in quick succession. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Okay, okay, calm down," he said, holding his hands up defensively. I looked the three newcomers up and down, and raised an eyebrow. I still didn't understand why they were here. I caught the eye of one, and he looked at me, with an eyebrow perfectly raised.

He was very handsome, as were his counterparts. He said something to the other two, and I noted his accent was the same as Johnny's, meaning he was from America. And hearing the other two, I assumed they were both from the land of freedom too.

He looked back at me, and I noticed his eyes for the first time, and something clicked in my head. His eyes unlocked what I'd assumed to be a trick of the eye. My own eyes widened at this, as I looked at him.

He frowned and stared at me. "What's wrong?" He asked, his voice slightly cold, as if he didn't really want to be here. I opened my mouth to say something, before closing it and shaking my head again. I saw the frustration rise in his eyes.

"Evidently something bothered you so do tell," he said, his voice smooth and he made a hand gesture to signify me carrying on.

"It's just, you're eyes are the same colour as..." I broke off, shaking my head and bringing my hand up to my face. "Forgive me, it was a silly assumption. You're eyes just reminded me of something I saw the other day, but on a dog. As you can tell that's just ridiculous," I mumbled into my hand.

I looked at him, and saw a slight panic in his eyes, causing me to frown in confusion.

"Yes, quite ridiculous. Well anyway, we must leave, we have things to attend to. Johnny, remember what we said," he hissed, looking pointedly at Johnny before glancing at us again, and walking away, the other two following.

"How rude, we didn't even catch their names," Kirsty pouted. I chuckled softly at her, before nudging her. "One catch your eye?" I said, smiling. Johnny's eyes widened. "I should hope not, you don't want to get involved with them. They're not from around here," he said, dismissing it.

Kirsty frowned. "But everyone says we'd do so much better finding ourselves a rich man and getting a better life. They looked rich, they were nice on the eye and from my observations, they certainly aren't taken," she said, frowning.

Johnny sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It is for the better, believe me. They don't get involved with girls all too often so I wouldn't put your hopes up," he said, looking at us. I frowned slightly at his words, because upon seeing the dashing green-eyed man, I'd finally found a man I wouldn't mind settling with.

But evidently, it wasn't to be.