6.

At seventeen years of age Sammy Fontaine had a decision to make. It was one destined to come, for many reasons, one of which was the mistreatment he experienced at the mercy of Darkness. Darkness had promised him so much four years previously and for some time did deliver though when it came to it, Sammy was just another lackey to use and abuse and to be left stranded.

When the decision was made to never return to that underworld, a place held in high regard by Darkness itself, Darkness knew right away and attempted to coax Samuel to listen to reason. This only made Sammy all the more determined to stay gone. In his confidence Darkness was sure that Sammy would return, his adoptive son will not stay away oh, but he will, for at least as long as he can stay away.

In the off chance his assumption is wrong, Darkness wants to use a six-year-old girl to ensure a path back is followed. What it is being sensed at seventeen years of age and with making the decision to make a positive change, Samuel Fontaine will down the road still be involved in Darkness related issues.

Having been left to fend for himself, and in a place with which he had acquired as a base of operations, Sammy gathers himself and once he has, he takes a look outside as sees a small girl looking back his way as if she were looking right at him and if she knew exactly where he would be. This little girl is Maxene Ferguson, a new arrival to the underground that Darkness loves so much.

Sammy knows of this girl as he had met her down in that place on the day she arrived, and it already appears clear that she has control of or a relationship with creatures whose natures are loyally dark.

It may have been festering within him prior to this point that something serious was and is coming though leaving Darkness and seeing what has been coming from it, things definitely felt like he was choosing a side. Light did and does have a silent voice within him though at that nothing was ever directly told to him. Putting two and two together and relying on his feeling is good enough for Sammy to begin and prepare for a future that cannot be allowed to have a foreseeable dark ending.

A coming apocalypse cannot be given the freedom it desires ...

***

At her father's funeral Nancy Ellis felt detached. In no way was it like saying goodbye to a loved one, sure his death came from her touch and that came under instruction from a different father. The death of Benjamin Ellis was not quick either.

Despite the feeling of indifference, attending the funeral was a must. She had always loved her father; with not properly knowing her mother if she knew her at all, dad became all important. There was love for Aunt Sharon to a degree though Nancy hated the idea that Aunt Sharon felt a need to aid raise her. Sharon is not her mother, and a mother cannot be replaced.

Nancy didn't hang around. Her father is dead, real mum is locked up in an institution and fake mum just isn't mum at all. Not having confirmation of such, Aunt Sharon is sure that Nancy is responsible in some way or other for the death of Ben Ellis. There is no way to prove anything and indeed Nancy did not hang around once the funeral came to an end.

Besides, hallowed ground makes her uncomfortable even with the concessions Darkness can give to her. She did make her way to the cemetery for the burial, uncomfortable or not, she had no plans to hang around until the very end. If anything, an early departure from a burial gave her time to make an early departure from a place which had been her home.

Nothing had been said about her departure from the burial. When Ben Ellis had been buried and a service concluded Nancy was nowhere to be seen and Sharon did not look for Nancy either after having scanned the cemetery or after returning home. There would be plenty of intrigue and there has been plenty of fear. Fear wins out.

Indeed Ben Ellis, Aunt Sharon and Nancy all shared the same home. Nancy was not in the house when Sharon returned home and there was some relief for Sharon in that, having to deal or share space with her niece after burying Ben had not been something to look forward to. So, a disappearance was good and all the better too the longer it lasted.

Sharon, having dealt with other family and with friends at the funeral, burial, and the brief afters, was alone at home and she sat quietly in darkness, crying. If she could have known that Nancy was not returning, then she would have had the lighting on. She definitely feared having to live alone with Nancy. Nancy had previously returned prior to Sharon's return though after gathering some of her belongings she took off and did not return again on this day or on any other day after. The Ellis family home would no longer be Nancy's home.

Despite her young age, Nancy was never going to try lay a claim to that home she lived in. she could have attempted to say with dad's death that the house was hers or at least her mother's but moving on is what she did. On a bus and on her way out of town there was a someone who caught her eye. Another girl of similar age, just how similar she could not know, sat a few rows away.

This other girl only went so far before exiting to apparently meet a twin sister though when an exit off the bus had been made Nancy observed one of these girls vanish after a very brief interaction. Little could Nancy know in that moment that those twin girls were just the one person and a person who is as much related to darkness as she is.

For the following five years Nancy Ellis stayed as much under the radar as she could and under the guidance of Darkness, she acquired what she needed to survive leaving behind a trail unexplainable mysteries that could not be traced to her. Sure, under the radar and also reported missing, something Sharon had to do despite being more glad of such than anything else, mysterious deaths not unlike her fathers could not be attributed to her by those in a position of investigation.

Difficulty for Sharon came in many forms. She did not want to live in that house all by herself and also did not want to appear in any way guilty in leaving it behind. Moving on quickly could indicate that she has something hide and that she might know more about the disappearance of her niece than what she declared. Of course, as it is, she has no idea where Nancy had got herself to.

Having that home declared as hers too came with difficulty. Her sister is alive though is living within an institution with it extremely unlikely that she will ever be released. Sharon's sister's husband with whom she had shared this home with is dead and the only child of her sister and brother-in-law has gone missing so indeed there was difficulty with laying a claim on the home.

There also was the fear that one day Nancy might come home. Sharon hated the fact that she feared Nancy and of course, if Nancy were ever to return home and with Ben no longer living, there would be a real fear that her own existence would be under threat. Indeed, Nancy never would return home, enough time also could never pass where the house could be deemed to belong to Sharon and Lacey Ellis still lives so a time could not come where leaving the home behind and selling it on could be something Sharon might be able to do. Staying in the house had its own catch twenty-two.

Every day in that house was a torture. The not knowing was a torture. Returning after having done a shop or a shift of work came with a fear. Would something or someone be waiting for her? And the fear too of possibly being institutionalized like her sister having possibly gone crazy herself would often be a thought.

Time eventually brought about a move to an apartment and with such came a level of peace. Still Sharon feared a possible return. She feared that one day, she might be ... found.