Shadows Rising
The story that follows is a 100% fan fiction. Many thanks go to the writers and artists that have worked on the Top Cow Universe, without their hard work and creativity this story might never have been whispered in my ear as I drove to one of Marc Silvestri’s 2014 Free Comic Book signing.
She sat watching the sunset. “He’ll come! He promised!” she kept telling herself. As the shadows continued to deepen so did her doubts.
This was the third night she waited. If he didn’t come tonight he wouldn’t come. Either something had happened to prevent him or, strangely this worried her even more, it had all been a lie. He’d promised to be there if she or Hope needed him. She didn’t want to believe that Jackie lied. After all, he had come to her rescue even when it was not in his best interest. When Hope was born he had almost died to protect her.
Why would he lie about coming if they needed him? No! She shook her head to emphasize the thought. No, something must have happened. As the night deepened her hope dwindled with the dying light. She worried more.
The Angelus had broken all the covenants that had existed. She had killed innocents in her quest to destroy the Darkness and with it Jackie. She tried repeatedly to steal Hope so that she could control the child and the power that she believed Hope will have. She had even sworn to kill Hope rather than permit the Darkness near her. That doesn’t even touch on what the Angelus had tried repeatedly to do to Sara herself.
It didn’t make sense. There had always been strife between the Angelus and the Darkness but never had it escalated to the level where it was no longer clear which was of the Light and which was of the Dark.
The deaths at the hands of the Angelus and her host were so brutal, they made an experienced police officer like Sara shudder and sick to her stomach. She had seen some of the worst man had done to his fellow man but that paled in comparison. It wasn’t just the ending of innocence that was shocking; it was the excessive brutality of each death. As though these acts were meant to tell the Darkness that the Light could out-do anything the Dark could ever come up with.
How was Sara to protect Hope from such insane brutality? Such. . . EVIL! That was the only word that seemed to fit. But how, why did the Angelus become so Evil? She was supposed to be the Warrior of the Light or if Magdalena was to be believed, the Angelus was another of God’s warriors, a defender of Light and Goodness. How could she, even with the Witchblade, protect Hope from such evil? She was supposed to be the Balance. The Witchblade was no help; it had remained strangely silent. It was as though it to had never encountered an Angelus so deranged. There was no place to hide from the Angelus. It seemed she didn’t even have Hope’s father to help protect their daughter and turning to their friends would only be asking them to sacrifice their lives.
Looking at a sleeping Hope in the back seat she knew there was no other choice. She hoped that in time her friends would understand and forgive her for what she was about to do. They needed to disappear. Everyone, even her friends, had to believe they were dead.
It was strange that Jackie had anticipated this day would come. So sure that it would, he had developed an escape plan. Sara laughed at it at the time. Yet he was so sure that it would be needed he had drilled Sara on it mercilessly so she would have it all committed to memory. Nothing was to be written down to prevent it from falling into anyone’s hands. He had been relentless. He had made her repeat it all until she could do so regardless of any distraction he or the Darklings came up with. Jackie didn’t care that she thought it was silly. He took the steps he knew would be necessary to protect his daughter and her mother.
Now that plan was the only chance they had. It wasn’t what she wanted for their child, but moving constantly was the only option that provided any basis of an expectation to raise her until she would be able to stand on her own. Running and hiding went against everything inside Sara, but confronting the Angelus now meant certain death for Sara. Then Hope would be lost to the evil manipulations of the Angelus.
Taking a deep breath she spoke aloud with determination. “If I am going to do this, I better get to it!” Sara picked up her phone, and then typed in the number followed by the phrase Jackie had made her memorize. Looking at the words on the phone display “Shadows Rising”, she hit send before she could change her mind. She had no idea who was on the other end. She simply had to trust that Jackie’s plan would work.
Grabbing the backpack with all they would be able to take, Sara got out of the car. She gently picked up Hope from the back seat then walked toward their new life. She didn’t bother to look back. There was nothing left for them there except death.
All characters appearing within Shadows Rising are the property of Top Cow Productions, Inc., and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This story is for entertainment purposes only and is not part of the Top Cow Universe continuity.
Special thanks go to Mary Louise Eklund and Diana Rogers for their encouragement and proofreading assistance. This story might have ended up collecting dust in the dark recesses of my computer if not for the encouragement both provided.
There are others I owe thanks to however as I don’t know if making public their review of this story is ok so I will only say Thank you, I hope you know who you are. Your feedback after I sent the story to you means more than you might ever know.
