Disclaimer: I do not own any canon material in this story. I do, however, own the OC's in this story, if any appear—aside from the main character—unless otherwise noted. Author's Notes at the end.

Chapter 1

Shadows Who Creep

The sun was setting on a beautiful day. At least, the day was beautiful to a younger lady driving down the road. She only momentarily paused in her over-alertness to admire the scenery, though. To many who drove with this person, they would describe her driving as overly cautious to the point of paranoia.

She arrived at a nice little house after a short but somewhat nervewracking trip, noticing the neatly trimmed front yard. Her mind immediately went to her own yard and the slight mess it was in. She resolved to mow the lawn after she had picked up her son from her friend's house.

She got out of the car and briskly walked to the front door. To her, it seemed there was no sense in dawdling over chores that weren't done yet. As she walked to the door, she nervously patted the top of her hair and smoothed down any wild strands of brown hair that she thought might have poked up. She knocked twice on the front door and stood there waiting for a response. She idly looked at the neighbor's yard, her brown eyes absorbing all the information she could perceive. After a brief interim of watching the neighbor play with his dog in the yard, the door opened to reveal a middle aged lady. She smiled at the mother who knocked on the door.

"Dawn! It's good to see you again!" greeted the lady who opened the door. She had a cheerful smile on her face and her tone was genuine.

"It is indeed, Katherine!" Dawn replied with a similar but reserved emotion.

"Declan and George are in George's room. Could I get you something to drink?"

"A glass of grape juice if you have it," Dawn replied.

"Mmm, you and your son have the same tastes," Katherine replied. With that, the house owner stepped out to fetch both the children and the glass of juice. Dawn noted that the house was tidy, which was an adjective that she knew did not quite describe her room. As she observed the room, Katherine came back with the glass of grape juice.

"The boys will be here soon. Here's your glass, Dawn."

"Thanks. Your house is so nice."

"Thanks. I try to get George to help clean, but really it's been me doing it in my down time."

"Does George Senior help?"

"Well, he's usually in the office. He does try on the weekends, though," Katherine said. Before the conversation could continue any further, two boys bounded into the room. Each of them sported features that bore strong resemblances to their mothers.

"George, Declan's mother is here to take him home."

"Okay! Bye D-man!"

"Until next time, George!"

"Yeah, until next time! Signing out!"

Dawn's lips pursed slightly at hearing the two talk, although her displeasure at the interaction was subtle. She bade the mother and her son a good day and they left the house together. Declan, oblivious to what his mother's reaction to his and his friend's interactions were like, happily went to the car in relatively large strides. The two of them got into the car and, after checking Declan's seat belt in the back, departed to return home.

It had not been a minute since they had started their drive home when Dawn took initiative in the situation.

"Declan Skye DeMarco... what were you and George talking about before we left? You weren't playing any video games, were you?"

"No, mom. We were playing around with some old radios we found in the house! We could talk to each other on those things! We were hiding and pretending to be spies on a mission!"

"I see. That's good, then."

"I know, mom. No video games. They're bad for you. There's nothing to be learned from them. Mom, you've told me this a thousand times!" Declan protested with a pout.

"I just don't want you corrupted by those things. Goodness knows what kind of things they fill your head with," Dawn said to her son while driving down the road.

There was no room for protesting from her son or any leeway on the matter. Little did his mother know, he was actually playing a match of Call of Duty before she got there. Dawn DeMarco was an advocate against video games. She was the president of a local organization dedicated to stop the sale of video games in the area, she wrote editorials in the newspapers arguing against the artistic medium, and she had even organized a rally in the state capital in an attempt to garner attention to her cause.

She arrived at home and pulled up in her driveway. She saw her neighbor was out in the yard, trying to install a window box on her windowsill. As Dawn had observed, her neighbor was fuming to herself and fumbling around with a drill and screws.

"You okay over there miss?" Declan called out as he got out of the car. I didn't even realize he let himself out. The neighbor looked over at Declan and smiled slightly.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking, Declan!" she replied to the child. She adjusted the band that was keeping her bright red hair in a ponytail before looking at Dawn with a smile. "Say, Dawn, everything okay with you?"

"Yeah, Lisa, things are good over here. How about you? Things okay with the mortgage and the boyfriend?" Dawn asked her neighbor.

"Being a teacher can be rewarding, even if not financially. Still, we're managing," Lisa replied with a smile.

"I can't imagine putting up with high school students. Aren't they a handful to teach?" Dawn asked.

"Not really. History has a hobby of habitually making the average high school student drowsy," Lisa said with a smile.

"I see..." Dawn said. "Well, I should head inside. I'm sure my parents are probably ready to dote upon Declan again."

"Okay then. Have a good day!" Lisa said with a wave. With a smile and a nod of acknowledgement of the parting words, Dawn went inside with Declan.

"Dawn, is that you?" a voice came from the living room.

"Yeah, mom," she replied.

"Dinner's on the table. I made a plate for you and Declan too!"

"Okay, thanks," Dawn replied. Dinner for Dawn and Declan was pizza from the local shop. Both ate their meal in silence for the most part, the events of the day slowly being absorbed into their heads. Dawn had an interesting day at work while Declan enjoyed the first day of his weekend break heading to George's place after school.

"So, anything interesting happen in school?" Dawn asked, finally trying to break the silence at the table.

"Well, Kylie got into a fight with Miranda because they both wanted the red crayon! Then Johnny tried to step in and tell them to stop but they started shouting at him! The teacher came over and broke up the argument!" Declan replied with a smile and a cheerful demeanor. The child was an ever-infectious ball of cheer and energy waiting to be channeled and challenged.

"Aw, I'm sure Ms. Short didn't really mind too much."

"She seemed completely amused by the fight. She was watching and trying to let them fight!" Declan said. Dawn smiled slightly to herself. A teacher who tried to let the students work out their own problems. This new teacher was definitely what the school needed.

"I'm sure if she steps in, the students listen," Dawn said.

"They sure do! She's scary when she has to break up the fight!"

"I'm glad to hear they respect her."

The conversation ended there as the two of them finished their meal. Friday night was always erratic in the house as the family got ready for bed. Declan was put to bed by his mother before she went to the room next door to his to fall asleep. Dawn's parents were already asleep in the downstairs bedroom by the time Dawn did her nightly ritual with her son.

As she lay down in her own bed and pulled out a book to read, she started to become lost in thoughts as events through her life swirled through her head. She allowed herself into this somewhat masochistic reverie before a knocking sound on the wall disrupted her. She quickly turned toward the wall and stared at it silently for a few seconds. There wasn't any other sounds so she dismissed it as her imagination.

She cracked open the book she was reading to the bookmarked page when a shrill scream elicited from Declan's room. Without any hesitation, Dawn snapped the book shut and ran toward his room. She threw his door open and held the book high as if ready to throw it as a desperate line of defense between her son and what he was shouting at. The sight that met her eyes was one she had never expected to see in her life.

A dark vortex about six feet wide was open in the middle of the room. A powerful suction was coming from that vortex, pulling Declan toward it. Dawn saw him holding onto the headboard of his bed with everything he had, resisting the ever-growing pull of the vortex. Without hesitation or thought, Dawn jumped into action, running toward her son. His grip slipped from the headboard but she was able to catch him in time before he was pulled into the portal.

As if it was angry at being robbed of its victim, the portal's pull increased greatly. Unable to resist its mighty force, Dawn fell forward into the vortex. Immediately the floor disappeared from under her and she felt herself floating in the air. Swirls of dark lines on a purple background surrounded her as she tried to hold onto her son. A beam of light and a haze of steam flew past, grazing Dawn on the arm. She quickly recoiled in shock and pain and accidentally loosened her embrace she held upon her son.

"Mom... mom!" Declan cried out. With the vicious pull from the vortex being too great for her stength, the child was pulled away from her arms and slowly faded from view into the darkness. Dawn's screams of desperation echoed eerily within the darkness, its sound powerful but falling deaf upon the infinite darkness around her.

Within a few seconds, the vortex itself seemed to fade from existence as a reality materialized around her. She was in a room with a wooden floor and wooden walls. The vortex itself was slowly and calmly swirling to her left, hovering above the floor. It had shrunk until it was merely a few inches in diameter. A lantern was sitting on a table that was in front of her. Near the lantern was a quill in an ink bottle; this was nothing like the room she had just left.

Voices eminated from downstairs but Dawn cared not for that. Her son was pulled away by something she had no idea what it was. She couldn't even begin to fathom or imagine his fate. As the desperation of her loss faded, only one thought was etched into her mind...

It was a single thought that burned so strong that it threatened to consume her very being and explode in a fiery frenzy. It coursed through her veins, giving her a renewed vigor. It was a drug and she was powerless to the obsession that was slowly branding a permanent tattoo upon her consciousness. The voice of logic and reason squawked pitifully against the chanting voice of passionate emotion. That chant grew more and more powerfully, playing over and over in her head.

... whoever had done this was going to pay.

Author's Notes: Hey guys, what's up? Not much over here. Hey, hey, hey, sorry if Spellbinding Radiance hasn't updated much lately. I just have been in a writing slump and hoping to break that.

Anyway, new story here! It's a fun little pet project; nothing to be taken seriously. Therefore, no epic-long chapters, not gonna harp over grammar with a fine-tooth comb. I just want something I can write for fun. This just happens to be it. Hopefully it'll break my writer's funk.

Also, there's a reason for why I characterized Dawn the way she is (and even why I gave her that name). I know it may jive with you guys the wrong way, but it's there for a reason and adds to the story. Trust me on that.

Random scene with the neighbor in the hopes that it gives Dawn some characterization and background, because I'm horrible at the "show don't tell" concept when it comes to backstories.

Well, guys... those of you who follow Spellbinding Radiance... welcome to my third person writing. Hope you enjoy it! It's a little different and I hope to actually let this go on for quite a bit. I decided to take a laid back type attitude toward this in that I don't have any standards on what I want for the chapters and write it for fun. Anyway, enjoy!