A New Story I've Been Toying With... Please Read! :P

Hey, so I posted this on figment, so Stara and Kyle have already read it.  Mainly I just wanted to post the beginning of a new story because I totally feel like no one knows me anymore.  I remember each and everyone of you though, never fear!  Anyway, for a while I was debating quiting KP (*gasp!*), but I resolved to just come on a lot more when summer rolls around, maybe get to be known a little better again.  Thanks for reading :)

At first I did not realize that I was the only one who noticed them.  Actually, I couldn’t see them, nor could I hear them; their shadows did not swoop over the grand city as they usually did during an attack.  But it seemed undeniable that they were coming.  I looked around in despair.  Where was the nearest button?  In situations such as these, I had always been protected, pushed into one of the cellars after the alarm began blaring.  It was never in my bad fortune to push the button myself.

Finally, I saw it.  A black column, no taller than me, stood rising out of the cement like a guardian of the city.  Mother would have gasped, I thought with a cringe, as I darted across the cobbled street, holding my skirts just above the ground.  One carriage lurched to a halt, the horses whinnying and puffing steam at me.  I did not turn to apologize to the driver.

Grandmother always told me I was a very direct young woman.  I would focus very diligently on one task, and not bother with any others until I succeeded.  She said it was my fatal flaw.  Perhaps it was.

Having made my way across the streets, I tore the case away from the black pillar, glass shattering.  I slammed my palm down on the button, feeling the round shape depress.  There was a long moment of chilling silence, where all I felt was my chest heaving and an eminent sense of doom.  A tall man in a top hat stared at me in agitation.  He seemed like he was about to make some remark about silly pranks pulled by irresponsible children, but did not have the chance.  The alarms sounded then, cutting off his words.

They seemed louder than ever, standing this close to one of the pillars.  A combination of a bell tolling and a shrill train whistle, I’d always thought.  But the other passersby did not seem to care about the dreadful noise; each was staring straight into the sky, then back at each other in worried confusion.  They did not know.  There was a dreadful, painful moment of furious panic- had I, perhaps, been wrong?  I wondered if perhaps there was no danger at all- when the shadows came.  They were massive, carrying with them a chilling wind that swept into each alley and side street, leaving nowhere safe.

It was very silent and very loud at the same time, during these attacks.  No one was permitted to speak, but whispers rushed through the crowd, anxious mothers calling their children to them, young men comforting their frightened wives.  It was procedure though.  We all knew to keep our heads down.  We all knew to walk, but never run, towards the nearest cellar.  We all knew to only speak in whispers, when we had to speak at all.

I vaguely wished Harrison was there.  He had always been with me during the attacks before, and it left me distinctly disconcerted to know that he was not here now.  Thoughts of Harrison, however, where driven from my mind.

I’m not sure what made me look sideways, the same way I’m not sure what made me realize they were coming before anyone else did.  There was a small form huddled in the grass.  It was limp and unmoving.  Taking one quick glance to the other citizens, filing impatiently into the cellars, I ran towards the child, tearing the hem of my dress.  The ripping noise made me wince, but I didn’t have time to worry about it.  I knelt down beside the boy.  He could have been taking a nap in the park, if not for the blood that ran from the corner of his mouth, staining a streak of his angelic face crimson.

My stomach clenched at the sight of the blood.  He couldn’t be more than eight.  I propped his burning head up onto my lap, daring to look upwards through canopy of trees at the attackers.  My heart thudded to a sudden halt.  There were at least four of them, these monsters above me.  They had wingspans massive enough to blot out the sun.  I swear I caught a glimpse of one of their black eyes swiveling slowly towards me as they circled us like hungry vultures.

Concentrating on the boy once more, I saw he had no identification tag.  I rubbed my fingers against my own copper necklace subconsciously, looking down at the poor child.

 Feeling more than a little nauseous, I shook the boy’s shoulders gently.  “Wake up,” I muttered desperately.  “Please, please!  Can you hear me?”

It was obvious though, that he couldn’t.  Back on the streets, the last stragglers were entering the cellars, fleeing the danger that I was still exposed to.  Gritting my teeth in a most unladylike way, I scooped the boy up in my arms and turned.  He was not as easy to carry as I had hoped.  For a child, he was certainly pudgy, not to mention the fact that my boots kept catching on my ripped skirt.  I tripped for what must have been the fifth time, just as the nearest cellar door began to close.

“Stop!” I yelled towards the cellar, stumbling forward.  My voice echoed over and over again in the abandoned city.  Everything was frozen.  I had not even thought about how loudly I’d spoken, but I had just broken one of the cardinal rules during an attack.  I could hear every wing beat of the monsters above me as they focused their attention downward.  My spine prickled.  They were watching me.  There was no use in being quiet now.  “Stop!” I cried again, lunging towards the cellar.  I saw a face, and in one furious moment I realized it was the face of the man in the top hat who had seemed so displeased with me earlier.  He shook his head violently, slamming the cellar door.  He was leaving me and the helpless boy to the dragons.