A Whisper In The Dark

Tony Fall was terrified of the little creature.

Its giant eyes were staring straight at him, with drool dripping down its chin and pudgy hands reaching for his face.

“Pick him up Tony, he’s not going to bite,” said Raya, already rocking one of the babies in her arms like it was the most natural thing in the world. Tony reached down to pick up the other one. He had no idea where to place his hands, and its head rolled backwards. It started wailing as he held it at arm’s length, a hand under each chubby arm.

“He’s not radioactive, you can hold him closer… and support his head, like this… and don’t look at me like that, you’re going to have to get used to it because the twins aren’t going anywhere.” Raya smiled down at the baby girl in her arms. “Isn’t that right, little one?” The baby stared back, unable to take its eyes off its mother.

The little boy in Tony’s arms had stopped crying. He was looking at his father with a frown on his face, like he could tell how awkward Tony felt and would rather be in the arms of someone less likely to drop him. Tony didn’t blame him. No one thought he was ready to be a father, especially not himself, and here was the proof. Their first night home and he was already messing it all up.

Tony looked over at Raya. He hadn’t known her very long. They weren’t married, and had only just started living together a few months before the twins arrived. The little voice inside his head was telling him this was a huge mistake, that he shouldn’t rush into this with a woman he hardly knew. Tony was used to this voice. It spoke to him during every moment of his life, always there to hold him back. To make him fear change, more than staying the same, even if that meant staying miserable. He was not surprised to hear it now. What surprised him was that the voice was no longer alone. A new one was making itself heard, growing louder and louder with each passing second he stared at Raya. A voice that told him this was no mistake. That a life with her did not have to be a series of problems and things to be frightened of. That it could be a grand adventure instead.

Tony loved Raya because she was everything he wasn’t. They even looked like opposites. Tony had jet black hair, with dark brown eyes and skin, and a short, stocky body. Raya was tall and fair, with sharply cut features and hair so blonde it was almost white. But Tony’s favourite thing about her was that somehow, against all odds, and for reasons he could never quite understand, she loved him back.

“See, it’s not so hard,” said Raya, watching Tony hold the baby in his arms like he was holding a stick of dynamite that might go off if he moved too much.

“Easy for you to say,” he replied with a grimace, “you won’t be the one left outnumbered at home with them every day.” Raya raised an eyebrow at him.

“Bit late for second thoughts now, we both agreed this was the best way to make it work. You know what I do is important, I can’t just put it on ice and come back to it later.”

Tony wanted to point out that he didn’t know how important Raya’s job was because she’s never been able to tell him anything about it. Just that she worked for some big international organisation with lots of rules. But since Tony worked as a museum tour guide and he could easily just ‘put it on ice’ for a while, he nodded and went back to trying not to drop the baby.

“You know, you’re going to get the hang of this,” said Raya with that sweetness in her voice that came so naturally to her. “These little ones have no idea how lucky they are to have you as their dad.”

Tony tried to smile at her, but there were no words that could break the dread growing inside him. He’d always feared the moment would come, where Raya finally saw him for what he truly was. Someone not worthy of her. Now that moment seemed closer than ever before, rushing towards him in the shape of two tiny babies. He was terrified he’d fail them, and in doing so, he’d lose Raya. It felt inevitable, almost like it had already happened. He believed it as confidently as he believed the sun would rise the next morning. He couldn’t bring himself to say this out loud however, so instead he told her another thing he believed completely. “And you’ll be the best mum in the whole universe.”

Raya didn’t have any trouble smiling at that. “I think it’s time we settled on names, don’t you?”

Tony looked down at the scrunched up face of the boy. “He looks like a serious little fellow, how about something like Peregrin, or Atticus?”

“No characters from books,” said Raya firmly, “but I do like the direction you’re heading in. How about something like Bartholomew? Or Wentworth?”

“Wentworth,” said Tony, watching the boy begin to suck on his own hand, somehow managing to look even more serious. “I like it.”

“Wentworth Fall,” whispered Raya before looking down at the little girl in her arms. “And what about you little one? Not as serious as your twin I think. More like mummy aren’t you.” The girl let out a loud gurgling sound that could almost pass for a laugh. Raya beamed, “exactly! How about Lara? Raya and Lara.”

“What about Leura?” said Tony suddenly. “There’s a town up in the mountains called Leura, and right next to it is one called Wentworth.”

“You’re joking,” said Raya with a half smile, “you want to name our kids after some random towns in the mountains?”

“Not some random towns,” insisted Tony, “beautiful towns, with nature trails and waterfalls and views all the way down to the city. I’ve been meaning to take you, but…”

“But?” Raya gave him another raised eyebrow.

“But I never got the time,” finished Tony weakly.

Raya shook her head at him. “Sometimes, we have to make the time, Tony.” She didn’t sound disappointed, if anything she sounded quite playful, but the words burned Tony like she’d scolded him. Why had he never taken her there? It wasn’t far. It wouldn’t have been hard. He just never did, like so many other things. Was it already starting? Was she beginning to see the real him? He wanted to say something reassuring to her, but couldn’t find the words. He wanted to reach out and hold her close, but couldn’t bring himself to move. Raya turned away and smiled at the little girl in her arms. “It is a sweet name though. Leura… Leura and Wentworth.” The baby gurgled again and that seemed to settle it.

A few hours passed, and Leura and Wentworth were fed, bathed, and being soothed to sleep by Raya while Tony cleaned up in the kitchen. All in all, it hadn’t been as bad a night as Tony had feared. Some of it had even been quite… lovely. He could hear Raya humming a song to the twins and felt himself relaxing. One night down, and Raya was still by his side. Maybe he could do this after all. Maybe this time things would be different. As long as he had Raya, anything seemed possible.

He was drying the last of the dishes when he realised the humming had stopped.

Something about the silence that settled over the house didn’t feel right. It sat heavily in the air, like the world had been muted. So complete it was almost deafening. Then he heard it.

The shuffling of feet and fleeting whispers that slipped through the cracks in the silence. It was coming from every direction. Surrounding them.

Tony was vaguely aware he wasn’t breathing as he passed through the kitchen door and out into the living room. When he saw Raya standing there, his stomach clenched and his breathing restarted so fast and heavy that he thought he might pass out.

Raya’s eyes were wide with fear, and she held a knife in her hand, with edges so dark they seemed to swallow all light that touched them.

“Raya?” Tony heard the fear heavy in his voice as it echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls and making its way into every corner of the house. For a single moment, there was no reply. Then noise erupted all around them.

Doors burst open, windows shattered, heavy boots stomped over hardwood floors, and two little babies began to scream.

Three men entered the living room, one from the kitchen and two from the hallway. They were large and heavily muscled, moving too fast for people that size. They wore black, skin tight suits, lightly padded, and faces fully covered with masks. There was a red symbol over their foreheads that looked like an hourglass. They each held a fierce looking baton in their hands that was giving off a faint vibrational sound. Strapped to their thighs were clunky looking holsters that unmistakably held some kind of gun.

Tony took all this in, frozen in place, unable to think, unable to move, and filled with the horrible certainty that he could not protect his family from this. That he was as useless as the lock on their front door had been. A false comfort, only able to defend them from the idea of violence, but never the thing itself. Now violence had come. The lock had been broken, and Tony’s weakness was exposed. Despair devoured him, just as he felt Raya push him hard from the side and he went sprawling into one of the armchairs. She rushed at the nearest intruder, lashing out with the knife, but they ducked and swung their baton at her legs. It struck her on her left thigh and made a sound like a deep drum being hit. Raya dropped the knife and was thrown across the room, hitting the wall with a crunching sound that made Tony want to throw up. A second intruder rushed over and reached down to grab her, but in a whirl of movement too fast for Tony to follow, Raya grabbed their outstretched arm, tossed them over her head as she rolled backwards, landing on top of them. She elbowed them hard in the jaw and they went limp. Then Raya was on her feet again as the other two intruders closed in on either side of her.

Tony was still sitting in a sprawl on the armchair. He watched as Raya dodged one of the batons and threw the intruder over her hip with so much force the whole house shook when he hit the floor. He’d never seen Raya hurt anything before. She was the type of person to catch a spider and release it outside rather than kill it, and now he was watching her throw these overgrown men around the room like it was nothing. As she took the last of them down with a lightning quick sweep and sat on top of them, raining down blows with her elbows and fists, Tony had to face the horrible truth. The little voice had been right all along. He really didn’t have any idea who this woman was.

“Enough,” said a figure from the hallway. They spoke with an odd mix of high and low tones that set Tony’s skin crawling. Raya stopped hitting the man and looked over at the doorway as an older woman with short greying hair walked in, flanked by half a dozen soldiers. She wore the same body armour as the others but had a long black coat over the top of it, and in her arms was one of the twins wrapped in a blanket. The soldier to her right carried the other. The babies were silent, but that only frightened Tony more. He’d never realised how small they both were. They looked so fragile in the arms of such cruel looking people. Had they hurt them? Were they afraid, and wondering where their father was? Raya rose to her feet slowly, but Tony jumped up like someone had set his chair on fire.

“Really Raya, you think there’s any way out of this?” asked the grey-haired woman. Her soldiers began to spread out around the edges of the room, surrounding Raya and Tony. One of them picked up the knife and showed it to the woman. Her eyes widened at the sight of it, then she shook her head at Raya, like a school teacher telling off a naughty child. “Those are illegal, you know. And to think I’d told my team to use non-lethal force. That’s not playing very fair, is it?”

“This isn’t a game,” said Raya, her voice as tense as the rest of her.

“Oh, I disagree,” replied the woman with a crooked smile, “you’ve been playing a game with us for a while now, haven’t you?”

“I - I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Raya’s eyes kept darting to the twins.

“There’s no point in denying it, we know everything. What you need to think about right now is how you want all this to play out. Shall I tell you how I’d like it to go?” Raya stood rigid on the spot, while Tony felt like he was drowning in a deep ocean. The fear was bad, the worst he’d ever experienced, but it was the way Raya seemed to understand what was happening while he was completely in the dark that hurt him the most. The woman smiled a little wider and continued. “If you come along without any more fuss, and no one else on my team gets hurt, then these little bundles of joy get to stay with this fine young linear you’ve found.” She nodded in Tony’s direction. “Of course, there’s always the other way. We can’t be certain how much you’ve told him, or how much he’s been helping you. Yes, it might be best if he comes along too. The babies will have to go to an orphanage of course, one that doesn’t ask too many questions. Which, as you know, is much easier to find the further back you look. This time has its charms no doubt, but there are so many rules, I find it all quite exhausting.” She spoke like they were having a casual chat between friends. Tony was so unnerved by it he started feeling sick again.

Raya’s eyes kept darting between the woman’s face and the two babies, the tension beginning to give way to desperation. “Frey, please. They need me.”

“That’s right Raya, they do. They need you to make the right decision this time. Surely you must have known the danger you were putting them in with this little plan of yours? I do wonder, could you really have gone through with it? Was it really more important than their lives?” She paused to watch the impact of her words, savouring the tears that filled Raya’s eyes, the quivering of her jaw, and the collapse of her shoulders, as shame and heartache devoured her. Frey smiled, satisfied. “They can still grow up safely. We won’t hold them responsible for the crimes of their mother, not if you don’t force us to.”

Raya’s whole body was trembling now. She looked at the twins with grief-stricken eyes, then up at Frey, and gave her a slow, tremoring nod.

“Excellent,” said Frey, like they’d just decided on a nice place to have lunch, “dampen her.” One of the soldiers immediately stepped forward and clamped something on the back of Raya’s neck. It looked like some sort of collar, and thin metal bands spread outwards, wrapping around until only a small gap was left at her throat. A light on the back blinked red once, before turning a steady green.

“What the hell are you doing?” bellowed Tony. Seeing them put a collar on Raya like she was some sort of wild animal finally pushed him over the edge. He rushed towards the soldier but Raya stepped in front of him, both hands pressed hard against his chest. The look in her eyes broke Tony more completely than anything that had happened yet. The strength he was so used to seeing in there, the light he’d fallen in love with, all gone. Only desperation remained.

“Stop. Listen. I need you to listen okay.” She spoke fast and with a clear edge of panic. “There’s nothing you can do okay, nothing. You have to take the twins and keep them safe. Promise me - promise me you’ll look after them - that they’ll be okay - promise me Tony.”

Tony was past the shock now, and his fleeting moment of rage. All he felt was helpless and hollow, like the person he’d been just moments before had died. When he spoke, it was with a whimper. “What’s happening, who are these people? Raya, please.”

“I’m so sorry, I should have told you, I meant to tell you, I just… never got the time.”

Two soldiers flanked Raya on either side. The ones she’d knocked out were being helped to their feet. Before Tony realised it was happening, both of the twins had been passed over to him. He held them under each arm and Raya bent over them as tears spilled down her face. She whispered something to them and kissed each on the forehead, leaving a few tears behind. Then she straightened up and looked straight into Tony’s eyes.

“Promise me.” The soldiers grabbed her and pulled her towards the doorway. “Promise me,” she half screamed as Frey and the others stepped aside so she could be led out of the room.

Tony couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, his heart beat violently in his chest and all he could do was stare into Raya’s eyes until the moment they disappeared through the doorway and into the dark hall beyond. The other soldiers filed out after her, until only Frey was left.

“Did she really tell you nothing?” asked Frey with the air of someone only vaguely interested in the answer. Tony didn’t respond. Frey gave a sharp exhale, like the beginning of a laugh. “Probably for the best.” She walked over to the doorway, stopping right on the edge and looking back over her shoulder at him. “You should know, they’ll come for the twins when they’re older. They’ll want them properly trained. Rules, I’m afraid. Personally, I think it would be kinder to keep them away from all this. The less they know about their mother, the easier it’ll be for them.”

“What do you mean they’ll come for them? Who will? Who the hell are you people?” Even Tony thought he sounded crazy. Frey seemed to agree, and let out a high pitched laugh that bounced around the inside of his skull.

“Oh, you’ll find out, soon enough. It’s better if you hear it from them anyway, they’ve had more practice with this sort of thing. Just know that Raya’s been lying to you, about what she is, and where she’s from. About everything… and when you do find out the truth, you’ll be grateful she lied, Tony. Because I know people like you. I can see it all over your face. You don’t want to hear the truth. You prefer the fantasy, like the one you made up about your sweet, innocent Raya Volkova.” She smiled at him, and it was a sickly, twisted sort of smile. “Oh, and one more thing. When those little bundles of joy grow up, don’t let them come looking for their mother. They won’t find her… and you’ll just end up losing them too.” She turned her back on Tony and disappeared down the hallway.

Silence fell over the house once more.

Tony stood still. For how long he didn’t know. Through the haze of his disoriented mind, a single thought crashed over him again and again, like waves against a steep shore. He was alone, and it was all his fault. He couldn’t protect her. Couldn’t do anything but watch as they took her away. He’d failed her, just like he’d always known he would, and now the one thing that had made him feel like he wasn’t completely useless, that he could actually be the father the twins needed him to be, was gone. Raya was gone, and he knew with agonising certainty that she was never coming back.

One of the blankets began to stir. Soft crying from one arm set off more crying from the other. Tony was still staring at the empty doorway. He could see Raya’s face as she was pulled through like it was seared into his brain. It was as clear as the moment it happened. He stared into her tear soaked eyes, and felt a tiny spark ignite somewhere deep inside him. The last bit of strength he’d ever get from the woman he loved. He whispered into the darkness, “I promise.”

Then he turned to the twins.

It was a long night. The first of many. But Tony never stopped seeing Raya’s face, or forgot the sound of her voice as she was torn from the room. It was always there waiting for him. All he had to do was close his eyes and listen.