Suddenly, a dark figure rounded the corner of the building they had just ducked behind. The creature was larger than anything he had ever seen, with broad shoulders hunched over as it prowled after them. It’s gnarled muzzle twitched as it attempted to follow their scent. Mac put his back against the wall trying to hide as best he could.

            “Where did you come from?” He whisper in fear to the small, pink haired girl that was supposed to be next to him. “Why are they following you?” There was no reply.

            Mac glanced down the alley and the sight that greeted his eyes gutted him. Aria was being dragged, a small mass of flailing limbs and tear stained cheeks, down the alley by the Shadows. A chill ran down his spine as fear gripped his heart. He knew he couldn’t let her be taken away, he had to save her. Racing down the alley, Mac kept Aria in his line of sight. He had a feeling that the Shadows were taking her farther than he would be able to run.

            He stopped and stared down the road, watching as Aria became a small dot in the distance. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain on the side of his neck. He reached up only to find that there was a small feathered dart puncturing his skin. Colors swirled before his eyes as the world swayed and became an oddly shaped mass around him. Everything went black.

            Mac slowly woke, feeling groggy and out of sorts. A peculiar smell hung in the air as he opened his eyes. A thin strip of fabric was tied around his eyes, just thin enough that he could make out the shape of another person in the chair beside him.

            “Aria… Is that you?” Mac whispered quietly. There was a soft spoken response from his left.

            “Mac? How did they catch you?” Her voice was frail and broken. She sounded afraid, as if he might hurt her. “You need to find a way out!”

            “I’m not leaving without you. What do these things want with you?” He started trying to jerk his way out of the blindfold. After a few tries he managed to shift it enough that he could  see they were in a rundown bomb shelter. Mac glanced at Aria and felt his gut clench. There was blood caked into her hair and smeared across her cheeks. She too had a blindfold on but did not appear to have the strength to remove it.