When the Darkness Comes

(Had to get this idea out of my head before it drove me crazier. Please glance at the tags :3)

"Fin!"

The uneven terrain of his father's grape vineyard in southern England made Daiya's feet falter several times as he hurried toward his best friend waiting for him by the bank of the small pond they often met beside.

When he finally stumbled through the last barrier, a large blackberry bush that was always determined to try and keep out any intruders, he smiled wide at the young man standing by the water. The disapproving look he got in return only drew Daiya's smile wider as he ran over, hopping every few steps so that he could pull thorns from his fancy shoes.

His best friend, and servant, Fin, was already kneeling down as he came to a stop in front of him, shaking his head in displeasure.

"How many times have I told you not to go running through the underbrush like that? You are going to destroy another pair of shoes, Daiya. And your mended clothing is now torn in several new places." He chastised as he looked up at a his still-smiling, eleven year old master.

"Do you enjoy providing extra work for the seamstresses?" Fin asked, standing as he finished removing the thorns from Daiya's clothing.

He was easily a head or two taller, being seventeen, on the cusp of eighteen. His hair was a dirty blond and his eyes shone with a blue so light that any mistress would dream to have the color for a gown.

"No sir, but I didn't want to take the long way! " Daiya said, running a hand through his own messy dark brown hair, knocking enough leaves out of it to have his mother shaking her head if she were there to see them all raining from his previously-styled faint curls.

He was growing out of the waves in his hair, and couldn't wait for them to be gone permanently. Unfortunately, his mother was determined to keep them, even going as far as to make his maids curl his hair on occasion.

Fin massaged his brow as his eyes closed for a moment, then opened on a sigh as he reached forward, straightening his master's spectacles.

"Don't call me sir. I am your servant, not your master."

Daiya just grinned and took one of Fin's hands before tugging him into the shallow, cold water of the dirty pond. He knew that he would get in trouble for messing up his shoes even more, but he also knew that his father would not mind it after he apologized and smiled.

Fin managed to slip his off just before being pulled forward, saving his only pair of ratty servant slippers.

"Oh, Fin? I saw something earlier that I want to try." Daiya said after hopping around in the water a little, splashing his breaches, as well as Fin's.

Fin didn't seem too interested in messing about in the water, per usual, but he did tilt his head curiously at what his master had said.

"What did you wish to try, master?" He asked.

When Daiya splashed over to him, then gestured for him to lean over, Fin did as told. It was at that moment that he let something happen that would destroy every meager little thing that he had managed to work for over his young life.

Soft lips barely brushed against his own before Daiya was running off, his ears bright red as he disappeared back into the underbrush from which he'd only recently come.

Fin remained standing ankle deep in the murky pond water, unable to process what had just occurred. It was there, in that exact same spot, that he was found thirty minutes later by a group of noblemen on horseback. Each was armed with a shotgun or sword, and each weapon was pointed directly at him.

He had trouble filtering through all of the yelling that was being directed at him as he saw some of the men approach him. The bits and pieces he did manage to decipher made his heart sink in his chest.

Hang him. Pervert. Vile. Forced himself on his master.

The truth would come to his ears at some point, that the young master had been so excited that he had kissed the boy he liked and wanted to tell his father about it... but sometimes the truth does far worse than help.

Fin disappeared shortly after the incident with rumors of his death sentence echoing within the manor's halls for years to come.

"Come on, little scholar, drink up."

Daiya blinked out of his thoughts and looked up at one of his university friends. Marks was already beyond drunk, and rightfully so. They had all passed a grueling round of exams, and while he'd gotten the highest scores and was the one being used as the reason to celebrate, he just didn't feel like losing himself in alcohol that evening.

I would love to be in bed with a good book right now... or perhaps a textbook so that I may get ahead on our next set of exams.

It was sorely tempting to slip out the back door and make his way home like he'd done more than a few times in the past. He'd ridden his own horse to the pub, as opposed to his friends, who were intent on hailing a passing carriage to safely get back to their estates.

As his friends grew more and more rowdy, his decision was made for him. A friend to his right knocked over a half-full mug, dousing his breeches with an overly-loud guffaw. While the humor in being soaked in cold beer was lost on Daiya, he did appreciate the excuse it gave him to get up.

"I need to go take care of this." He said as he stood from the bench seat and, after getting some sloppy nods from the group, hurried to slip into the back hall that lead to the latrine, washroom, and back door.

The alcohol would dry fast enough on his ride home, so he didn't bother trying to retrieve a cloth from the washroom and instead made his way toward the exit. While the hall was normally lit decently well, there was a very noticeable absence of lanterns in the walkway that evening, so much so that Daiya had to put his hand against one of the walls and follow it to not run into either side.

He could see a sliver of light coming from the door that must have been only a few feet ahead of him, but right as he reached for it, the old, creaking wood swung open. A man stepped inside, most of his features hidden by the darkness. It looked like he was holding something, like a sheaf of papers, or a notebook, but Daiya didn't let his curiosity cause him trouble. He quickly ducked back a good distance against the wall and did his best to stay quiet and still.

"I think that's everyone, sir. This list stated five prisoners, and we've got two females and three males." The man said in a tone of voice that Daiya had never heard before. He sounded like he had been eating sawdust for weeks and was barely understandable.

Daiya watched the outline of the man look back toward the now-shadowed opening.

Another person.

Hunching further against the wall, Daiya held his breath as the new man seemed to stare straight at him.

He can't see me. It's too dark in here, even with the little bit of light from the moon outside. He told himself, even though he was starting to shake. Daiya wasn't sure if the men were good or bad, but the talk about prisoners didn't set him at any kind of ease.

"You're sure it was only five? Not six?" The man said as he continued to look right at Daiya.

The other man glanced down, possibly trying to read his list in the darkness.

"Yes. Just five, that's all we ordered." He said.

The bustling echoed sound from the main dining room took over the silence in the dark hallway until the man by the doorway turned and stepped just outside, gesturing for the other man to follow. He walked over, likely intent on leaving, but was instead stopped by the second one as he lifted a hand and pointed right at Daiya.

"Bring him out here."

The second those words were spoken, Daiya bolted. He scrambled to his feet and started running down the hall as fast as his legs would carry him. He hadn't grown to be the tallest lad, at only five foot seven, but he was quite quick for his size.

If only it hadn't been so dark in the hall... and he hadn't run right into the wall. His glasses disappeared from his face before he even hit the floor with a loud grunt.

The sound of the spectacles cracking under a heavy boot met his ears moments later, making the nerves in his stomach scramble like a hill of ants during a rainstorm.

He was grabbed by the collar of his shirt a moment later and dragged backward toward the door. Daiya struggled and tried to slip from his shirt, but the man's hold was too tight, constricting the fabric around his neck nearly to the point where he was choking.

When they finally made it to the open door, Daiya was unceremoniously tossed outside onto the dirty ground at the feet of the other man.

"He's definitely not a prisoner." The man who had grabbed him with the scruffy voice, said.

Daiya hurried to scoot back against the brick wall of the opposite building, keeping his head down as to not give away that he was practically blind without his glasses.

"Definitely not." The second man said.

Now that you two know I'm not who you're looking for, leave, please. Daiya thought desperately.

"Lift your face." The second man said.

When Daiya didn't comply, the first one knelt down and grabbed his chin in a too-tight grip and lifted it with his gloved hand.

"Not a bad looking lad, though." He rasped.

His breath drew Daiya's brows together and had him stifling a gag as he squeezed his eyes shut. He squinted them open a few moments later, once the air had cleared enough to not risk throwing up from the smell. His eyes jerked wide when he saw the second man's blurry face only inches from his own.

Without his glasses, he couldn't make out much detail besides dirty blond or light brown hair and light colored eyes.

"...Daiya?"

How does he know me?

The face in front of him slowly shook back and forth.

"God must be laughing at me right now." He said, no hint of humor in his cold voice.

The hand holding his chin disappeared, but Daiya couldn't look away from the person in front of him. He tried to narrow and widen his eyes, hoping to fix at least some of the blur from his bad vision, but it didn't help.

"You've always been blind without your eye glasses."

The other man spoke right after him. "I believe I stepped on them in the hall. I heard something crunch under my boot."

A faint rumble of thunder warned of a storm approaching.

"Sir, we need to leave soon." The raspy-voiced man said as Daiya saw his blurry form stand.

The man in front of him started reaching toward him, but stopped when his friend leaned down and grasped his wrist.

"Be careful, sir. You know the rules are none too kind to those who break them. If we take him, everything could turn bad." The man warned.

The second man's gloved hand withdrew after a long, tense moment.

"You look so much like your father."

What? He knew my father?

"He... passed away a few years ago." Daiya said, his quiet words nearly swallowed up by the thunder of the oncoming storm.

The man waited a moment before replying, his voice having gotten shockingly darker than the clouds hanging over their heads.

"I know."

Daiya had no words left for him, even though a hundred questions were buzzing around in his head.

"Master Fin, we need to leave!" Called a new voice from the mouth of the alleyway.

Master... Fin?

Blinking away his shock, Daiya shakily crawled forward, trying to see the man before him more clearly.

Why did I have to be born with such poor eyes!

"Fin? Is it really you?" He asked as he reached forward, trying to touch his face.

He couldn't believe such a thing. His friend had been killed because of what he had stupidly done so many years ago. There was no possible way that he could be kneeling in front of him.

Right before his fingers were going to touch the side of the man's face, his wrist was grabbed in a painfully tight grip.

"Now now, you don't want to do that, Daiya." He chastised before nodding toward the opening of the alley.

"Get going."

The man standing beside him hesitated, but did as told a few seconds later. Daiya remained focused on the man in front of him, Fin. His wrist was throbbing already but he was too distracted to try and free it.

"Fin... is it really you? I thought that you had been killed all those years ago." He said, sadness making his voice rasp as tears began to prick at the edge of his eyes.

The blurry face in front of him moved from side to side again before his wrist was abruptly released as Fin stood.

"I'll only warn you this once, Daiya. If you do not leave now, you will get hurt. Stay far away from me."

Before Fin could even turn around to walk away, Daiya was on his shaky legs and lunging forward, wrapping his arms around the man's torso tightly. He wanted to scream that he was sorry for what his father had done. That he had missed him so terribly much that he rarely smiled for years after he'd been told that he'd been killed.

He could feel how tense Fin was from the hug, but he couldn't bring himself to let go. Daiya simply nuzzled against the man's stiff jacket and took in a shaky breath. The scent that came with the inhale gave him pause, though.

He smells like those rich colognes Marks and the others wear, but underneath that scent... death?

Licking his lips nervously, Daiya leaned away and looked up at the blurry face of his former best friend.

He can't possibly be dead, he's standing right here.

"You smell... odd. Did you go hunting recently?" He asked.

Perhaps he hadn't changed after hunting something.

Fin looked toward the entrance to the alley, then back to him before replying quietly. "Yes... go back inside, Daiya. Now."

He was going to tell him that he had been about to leave, anyways, when the man he had sent away returned to his side.

"Sir, we must go now." He pleaded.

Daiya hesitantly took a tiny step forward. "Where are you going? And with those people?"

"You don't realize how close you are to dying, boy! Leave!" The raspy-voiced man yelled suddenly, startling Daiya into backing away until his back hit the dirty brick behind him.

To his surprise, Fin followed him, matching each of his steps until he was barely an inch or so away from pressing his body against his own.

"You look just like the man who murdered me, Daiya. Do you know what I want to do to you right now, so, so badly?" Fin said as he placed one gloved hand on the brick right by Daiya's left ear and leaned forward.

"If you do not walk back through that door right now, you will get hurt."

Daiya swallowed his nerves and slowly shook his head.

"You wouldn't hurt me..." He whispered.

Fin remained still for nearly a minute before he leaned back and silently turned, heading toward the opening of the alley. When the other man began to follow close behind, Daiya fell into step a few steps back.

They were all quiet as Fin turned left out of the alley and approached a second carriage that was stopped right behind another that looked similar. Both vehicles had horses hitched and eager to run, their heads bobbing with impatience.

When he stopped, the other man hurried forward and opened the door to the carriage, then stepped back, his attention turning toward Daiya for only a moment before he looked back to Fin.

"Master, please reconsider." He pleaded again, even as Fin ignored him and gestured for Daiya to climb into the carriage.

"If you come with me, you will be hurt, Daiya." He said one last time.

Stepping forward, Daiya straightened his shoulders and held his head a little higher.

"You wouldn't hurt me." He said again with a determination that he knew had to be true. Fin might have been his servant, but they had been true friends for years. He wanted his friend back, and to make whatever had actually happened, up to him any way he could.

When Fin didn't answer, Daiya hesitantly stepped forward and carefully climbed up into the carriage.

Wait. No one is in here? None of the people they had taken?

Confused, but somewhat relieved, Daiya turned just in time to see Fin nod to the other man, then look up at him.

"You are right, Daiya." He said, drawing a confused frown to Daiya's face.

"About what?" He asked, unsure if he really wanted to know.

Fin changed his expression, but Daiya couldn't see it clearly.

Is he smiling?

"I won't do it."

Do... it? Is he talking about hurting me?

Fin reached up and grasped the door with his left hand and turned to the other man and nodded. Daiya backed up when the man quickly climbed into the carriage.

He wished that he hadn't heard the door slam shut behind him a moment later, and he desperately wished that he hadn't heard Fin calmly say the words "Hurt him." Before the lock clicked closed and the carriage began to move.