Free Dark Soul Silenced - Part One by Simon Goodson Page B

thought that the sun had found its way into his safe haven, impossible as that was.  Soon he realised the pain wasn't his, but was coming from the convert.  With that knowledge Rafael managed to push some of the pain aside.
    Rafael endured the pain, gritting his teeth against an agony far worse than anything he had felt for centuries even though it was secondhand.  He managed to maintain the connection until the end, the moment that the sunlight burst through the convert’s body and mind.  Rafael slumped down, body trembling, and howled out his anger over the loss.
    Rafael woke shortly after sunset with a burning anger pulsing through his veins.  He couldn’t work out how the convert could have been caught out so badly, and now didn’t really care.  He wanted to feed, craved the release it gave.
    The villager had been unfortunate enough to encounter Rafael on the paths, a surprise gift as people mostly spent nights locked up indoors.  Now Rafael was striding away from what remained of that gift more angry than before.
    With a curse he reversed direction again, heading back to the village.  His need to feed overriding his normal caution.  Once he reached the village he paused, letting his senses play across the buildings, searching out those that only had a single person’s life force within.  The first two he dismissed, both potential victims were elderly, their life force already waning.
    The third held what he needed.  A woman in the prime of her life, life force radiating off her strongly.  He moved closer to the house then paused near the door, knowing it would be locked and heavily bolted.  People in the area knew enough about Rafael and his like to take precautions.  They all knew that staying indoors behind a solidly locked door would keep them safe. 
    Rafael smiled slightly at the thought.  What they knew was wrong of course, a complete lie, but one that he had helped to spread many centuries before.  The Chosen needed a supply of fresh food, but back then almost no one would come to live in the area and those that did quickly left — those that survived at least.  The gruesome killings that were the mark of the Chosen drove all settlers away.
    Then one of their number, Alex, had a brilliant idea.  People already knew that the creatures plaguing them only attacked at night.  Alex suggested that the Chosen only needed to make people feel safe at night to encourage more to stay in the area, to encourage the settlement of hamlets, villages and even towns eventually.  Even in those days the Chosen had servants who were enthralled, their pitiful mortal minds completely enslaved.  The Chosen sent many of those servants out into the wider world, spreading the myth that a strong door with solid locks and chains offered safety.  They spread other rumours too, tales of the riches to be found in the wild lands — jewels, gold, fantastic creatures, the secret of eternal youth. 
    The tales were many and varied, and they had the desired effect.  First a trickle then a flood of people came in search of their fortunes.  While some left, many either chose to settle down or spent their lives still searching.  The first hamlets became villages as they supplied the needs of those still attracted by the wondrous tales, then those villages became towns as they supplied and traded with villages settled farther into the wild lands.  Every resident knew the dangers the night held, and every traveller heard the tales.  The gruesome killings continued but became a part of the area.  Everyone knew that staying securely locked up from sunset to sunrise was the only way to be safe.  The Chosen watched in delight as people invented reasons for each new gruesome killing — maybe the victim had been drunk, had been ill, had been recklessly brave.  In some cases neighbours even muttered darkly about a husband or wife being thrown out to face the darkness.
    That was many centuries before, Rafael no longer bothered