From Darkness It Comes

A Gift From Mr. Stark

Darrin was on his way back to the dorm, passing through a wooded trail that passed up the hill behind the theatre and was surrounded by the grassy area he slowly wandered before. The trail was winding and steep in places, obviously made by students using this as a short cut and not maintained by the school. The canopy above made shadows and beams of light dance through the air in the slight breeze of the sunny day.

A cloud then crosses the sun and the area dims as a stronger breeze rustles the bushes around him. He shudders slightly from the cool air and then jumps as a tall figure emerges from behind a tree. He is bundled up in a slightly tattered trench coat over his brown tweed suit. His hair appears to be both matted and wild, hanging around his gaunt face with its cold steely eyes. His mouth is a single thin slit across his face, separating his square jaw from the rest of his head.

His boney hand reaches out from the sleeve of his jacket for Darrin, who stumbles back slightly to avoid it. He then speaks in a raspy voice that sends a chill up Darrin's spine. "I have been watching you Darrin. I knew you would come and I know what you must do."

Half scared out of his wits Darrin manages to squeak out a few words. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"That's unimportant." Says the man swatting the question away with his hand. "You have a destiny boy. Only you can fulfill it and save us all. But you need to figure out how."

Darrin is backed up against a tree and this mysterious man has closed in on him, reaching into his coat with his right hand. All he able to do is squeeze out one word. "What?"

The strange man pulls an old ornate looking knife out from inside his coat and holds it before Darrin. Darrin lets out a squeak of fear, but instead of threatening him with it he turns it around and tries to hand it to him, saying. "I do know you will need this. It is the Dagger of Urnenthul and holds some secret to all of this. Take it, it belongs to you."

Darrin takes it with trembling hands and looks down. It is a small tarnished silver handled dagger. The hilt appears to be formed of two silver snakes intertwined, with heads out at the tip of both guards. Along the center of the blade is more of the strange writing, nearly hidden in the grime and tarnish. The blade itself is smudged and chipped in places, but still appears to be quite sharp. He rolls it over and over in his hands, examining it closely and staring at the strange writing.

Looking up to ask the strange man another question he sees nobody standing before him in the woods. He is alone as the shadows dance around him in the breeze. Looking back down at the dagger he notices a small wooden box sitting where the man was standing. It is about a foot long and has strange writing carved into it that seems to match the dagger. Leaning down he sees that the knife fits perfectly inside and latches shut with a small twisting lock. He picks them both back up and starts to look around for any sign of the strange man, but to no avail.

Giving up the search rather quickly he takes his newly acquired items to his room and shoves them in the back of his bottom desk drawer, where nobody should be looking. They should be safe there for now. He thinks to himself before pacing his room to try and figure a few things out. What was he on about? What destiny? Who the hell is he and how does he know me? Has he been spying on me even before coming here? This is really creeping me out.

Realizing this is doing him no good he stops walking and takes a few deep breaths. Think clearly. He think to himself in a more controlled level of though. What you really need to do right now is...